Sonalika ITL launches 120hp tractor for exports; plans assembly units in China and USA

Sonalika ITL has launched its first 120hp tractor under its international brand name ‘Solis’ for export markets. The company claims it is the first Indian manufacturer to develop and manufacture a 120hp tractor indigenously.

With the Solis 120, Sonalika plans to further strengthen its presence overseas and tap new global markets rolling it out first in the manufacturer’s biggest overseas markets –Africa and Latin America.

Powered by the six-cylinder, turbocharged engine with a 24+24 gearbox, the tractor has a 4,500kg lifting capacity.

Priced between $30,000-35,000 for exports, the Solis 120 will target large sugarcane farms in Africa and Latin America, according to Deepak Mittal, managing director. “Through this 120hp tractor, the company is focusing on commercial farmers by providing them ease while doing arduous work. It will help us, an Indian company, to compete with big brands like John Deere and New Holland globally. In the next five years, as part of our growth strategy, we are aiming to gain a respectable market share in China and USA, the second and third largest tractor markets respectively.”

Hence the company is mulling setting up of assembly plants in China and the USA to tap tractor business opportunities in these geographies. It recently launched the Solis brand of tractors in USA and will be rolling it out in China too shortly.

The company, which has invested Rs 500 crore in setting up a new manufacturing facility at its Hoshiarpur plant and in developing the new tractor, is looking at garnering high volumes for this segment. Along with the company’s 110hp tractor, the Solis 120 will contribute 5 percent of its export product basket going forward. With the new facility on stream, Sonalika ITL has stepped up its production capacity to 150,000 units from 100,000 units rolling out 500 tractors per day or 1 tractor every 2 minutes.

At present, Sonalika markets tractors ranging between 20hp-90hp in Europe and America and will shortly introduce the 110hp and 120hp tractor range in these markets as well. Globally, the 120hp tractor is positioned in the mid-segment with large tractors being 200hp and above, according to Mittal.

Since its inception in 1996, Sonalika ITL has exported 65,000 tractors and has assembly plants in Brazil, Argentina, Algeria, Iran and Cameroon. In addition it has a centralised spare parts centre in the Czech Republic to facilitate dealers’ demands from Europe and neighbouring countries. 

In July 2016, the company became the biggest tractor exporter in India by shipping more than 1,500 tractors. It exported 4,000 tractors in the first 4 months of this fiscal, registering 24 percent year-on-year growth. Tractor industry exports were down by 3 percent during this period. In India, which is seeing a good monsoon, rural markets are expected to look up boosting sales of the tractor industry that is pegged at 600,000 units at present. According to TMA data in July, while Sonalika ITL led exports with 1,534 units, TMTL exported 1,256 units, John Deere 1,173 units, Mahindra 1,100 tractors, New Holland 720 tractors and Escorts 82 units.

Sonalika ITL holds a 60 percent market share in Algeria, 22 percent in Nepal and 20 percent in Bangladesh. It leads the market in Europe.