John
Deere, a leading tractor manufacturer in India launched a new model of tractor
3028 EN on the occasion of completing 20 years of doing business in India. The
tractor was launched in the presence of Satish Nadiger, Managing Director, John
Deere India and the top management of the company.
Nadiger stated that his company is
expecting significant growth for its products in both the domestic as well as
export markets. The company will soon be expanding its production capacities in
India for not only tractors but also engines and transmissions.
The
new four-wheel-drive 3028 EN tractor launched by the company offers advanced
technology and features suited for orchard and paddy farming. John Deere has
been providing Indian farmers with technologically-advanced products that offer
a wide range of farm solutions including tractors, harvesters and implements.
The
company’s journey in India began 20 years ago with the introduction of advanced
product features such as power steering, oil immersed disk brakes, planetary
reduction, force feed lubrication and high torque machines, said Nadiger,
pointing out that John Deere was the first to introduce these features in India
and they have now become industry standard.
The
tractor was launched at the company’s manufacturing plant in Pune, Maharashtra.
The company has another tractor manufacturing plant in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh,
besides a harvester manufacturing plant in Sirhind in Punjab. It also has an
electronics system manufacturing plant and an engineering and technology centre
in Pune , besides parts distribution
centre in Nagpur in Maharashtra. It also has a captive finance company to
provide financing solutions to John Deere customers.
John
Deere is part of the US 37 billion dollar Deere & Co. based in the United
States. The Deere Group is more than 180 years old and is into products for
agriculture, lawn and garden, construction, forestry, engines & drivelines,
etc.
Clocking
a higher than the average industry growth, John Deere has been recording a
growth of 34pc annually. It has a total production capacity of 132,000 tractor
units at its two tractor manufacturing plants in the country, with Pune having
a capacity of 72,000 units pa and Dewas having a capacity of 60,000 units pa.
The company is the largest exporter of agricultural products out of India,
exporting to 110 countries that include North America, South America, Brazil,
Australia, Europe and Asia, among others.
Though
John Deere is only fifth in terms of market share in domestic sales in India,
it is rapidly moving towards double digit market share and is just a shade
behind players like Escorts and International Tractors Ltd. The biggest players
in the Indian tractor industry are Mahindra & Mahindra, followed by Chennai
based TAFE. More than 80per cent of the tractors sold in India are in the range
of 31 to 50hp.
“We
have sold more than 70,000 units of tractors in the domestic market this year
and exported 24,000 units,” said Nadiger. He pointed out that today his company
has more than 525 dealers with several branches, thereby creating more than a
1000 touch points which provide a host of services for their customers.
The
John Deere Technology Centre in Pune which employs more than 4,000 engineers provides
services and solutions adding value in areas of product engineering,
manufacturing, quality, supply chain, IT solutions and customer support
services to various John Deere businesses globally.
Nadiger
said product features such as perma-clutch, front PTO, power reverser,
telematics and air-conditioned cabin have been welcome features for customers.
Adding ‘Green System’ farm implements and John Deere combine harvesters have
created holistic farming solutions, he added.
WIRTGEN GROUP
One additional item that strengthens John
Deere’s presence in India is the 2017 acquisition of the Euros 3.5 billion Wirtgen
Group, which has a factory in Pune. The Wirtgen Group is the world’s largest
road construction company. This new acquisition will only be adding to the
company revenues in the coming years.
The
Wirtgen Group products are sold under the brand names Wirtgen, Vogele, Hamm and
Kleemann. Wirtgen branded products include cold milling machines for road
construction, hot recyclers, and surface mining machines. The Vogele branded
machines include slipform pavers from Mini class to highway class. There are
also special class and powerfeeders from the Vogele stable. Hamm branded
products include articulated tandem rollers, rubber wheeled rollers and
different compactors. Kleemann branded products include crushers and screens for professional rock and
stone processing, mobile jaw crushers, mobile impact crushers and many more.
Thus,
John Deere today has a massive presence in India with products that cater to farms
as well as roads. The journey henceforth is now going to be exciting for this
group and as Satish Nadiger says, “ this growth will be very significant”