The Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) has released its annual off-road vehicle figures, which show an increase in deliveries of ATVs and UTVs to dealers in 2011.

In total there were more than 10,500 vehicles delivered last year. That continues the steady rise of sales year-on-year and equates to a 4% rise on 2010 figures.

The biggest change came from increasingly popular utility vehicles, with farmers choosing to take advantage of the greater carrying capacity and comfort that UTVs offer over ATVs.

ATV sales actually decreased by 4.7% in 2011 to 6,780 units. In comparison, 3,774 UTVs were delivered last year – a whopping 24% increase on 2010 figures.

It seems it’s only a matter of time before utility vehicle sales catch up with ATVs, and the change has been reflected in Farmers Weekly’s Crime Register, which reports a rise in thefts of UTVs such as Kubota’s RTV900 (pictured).