John Deere India to focus on 41-50hp tractor market

John Deere India, the local arm of the US$ 28.5 billion John Deere Global, a farm equipment company, is aiming for double-digit growth in its domestic market share.

The company plans to achieve this on the back of the sales momentum expected this year, thanks to good monsoon forecasts, superior products and technologies, new models and a plan to extensively cover north Indian states via expansion of its channel network.

The company, which has been essentially catering to market demand in the 35hp to 75hp tractor segment, plans to focus more on the expanding 41hp to 50hp segment.

According to Satish Nadiger, managing director, John Deere India, the company is a market leader in the 50hp and above tractor segment with more than 30 percent market share.

"41hp-50hp is our focus area, going forward. We continue to gain market share in the below-40hp tractor segment as well. Southern and Western regions contribute most to our pan-India sales. We aim to consolidate our presence in the Northern and Central States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and in other states in the East as well. Expanding our channel network is also a focus area for us," he told Autocar Professional.

The company currently has 427 dealerships which, according to the company officials, have their own independent network channels spread into their respective regions. John Deere, whose cumulative investment in India is over Rs 1,200 crore, has three manufacturing plants with total production capacity of 120,000 units per year. According to the company, the current capacity utilisation stands at 50-60 percent.

Evaluating the last financial year in comparison with the ongoing year, Nadiger said, "The tractor industry has been growing at 10-12 percent over the last 7-8 months. We have grown at 35 percent during this period. We believe that the ongoing year will be better in terms of demand creation. The Tamil Nadu market has been great for us, Telangana is also beginning to pick up in terms of sales. While last year, our exports were more than the domestic sales, this year we are expecting the latter to perform better than the former. We are looking at all opportunities to grow out market share across regions. We perceive the India opportunity under three main heads: market, manufacturing and talent."

John Deere, which follows its global accounting year of November-October, manufactured around 55,000 tractor units and exported 24,000 units of that volume. The company currently exports to more than 110 countries from India with North America being the largest market (over 50 percent export share).

INTERVIEW: Satish Nadiger, MD of John Deere India on the company's growth plan, evolving farmers' tractor requirements and the advanced JDLink tech