Totaling retail statistics reported by its global dealer network, Cat says its dealers saw worldwide retail sales jump 33 percent in February, with North American dealers seeing a 30-percent increase. The sales are reported on a three-month rolling period through February, 2018, compared with the same time period in 2017.
Significant gains were realized throughout Caterpillar’s global network, with dealers in the Asia/Pacific region reporting a 41 percent increase, and Latin American dealers reporting increases of 39 percent. Dealers in Caterpillar’s EAME segment (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) saw increases of 30 percent.
The North American region was the only one with increases over January’s figures, increasing from 23 percent to 30 percent. The most significant drop from January to February was in the Asia/Pacific region, which saw increases drop from 51 percent to 41 percent.
Looking at the construction industries segment, global sales were up 27 percent, with the Asia/Pacific region leading the way with a 36 percent increase in retail sales. North American construction industries sales reported by dealers increased 25 percent.
Caterpillar says the information presented “based on unaudited reports that are voluntarily provided to Caterpillar by its independent dealers and which are not subject to Caterpillar’s internal controls over financial reporting,” and therefore “may not be accurate and/or complete.”
The information provides “an approximate indication of the trends, direction and magnitude of retail sales,” says Caterpillar, although it is separate from the company’s audited financial statements.
