John Deere India expects tractor market to remain good

Pune-based John Deere India on Wednesday said it expects the tractor market to remain good going forward amid all the parameters that support the utilisation of tractors in agriculture looking positive. The company also said that the tractor industry sales volumes are expected to be at around 900,000 this fiscal and FY24 may see a similar sales number.

John Deere India is the domestic subsidiary of the world's largest manufacturer of tractors and construction equipment vehicles.

It has two manufacturing facilities in the country, one each in Pune and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh with a cumulative production capacity of around 1.32 lakh tractors annually.

"The outlook (on the tractor segment) looks very good. All the factors that support the utilisation of tractors in agriculture are looking positive and we expect the market to remain good," Sahilendra Jagtap, Managing Director and Country Manager, John Deere Pvt Ltd India said here during an interaction.

John Deere started its operation in India in 1998.

The segment volumes are going to be at the same level next fiscal what they are estimated to be this year-around 9 lakh units, Jagtap said, and added," the market depends on how the Monsoon plays out."

Though it is difficult to predict but as per information available so far it (the Monsoon) is likely to be normal this year, he added.

"Our journey in India began 25 years ago with the introduction of advanced product features such as power steering, oil-immersed disk brakes, planetary reduction, force feed lubrication, high torque machines and value-add technologies," Jagtap said.

"John Deere continues to innovate and introduce these advanced features in India which are now becoming industry standard, " he said and added that "the farmers 'outlook is progressive, and they adapt technologies when they see value and cost benefits."

Electronics system manufacturing in Pune (Maharashtra).

Besides two manufacturing facilities, the company also has an engineering Centre in Pune as well as two Global IT Centres one each in Pune and Bengaluru.

Without disclosing any investment numbers, Jagtap said that the company always works one year ahead of time so if it sees the projections going up, it starts investing.

"We keep that in mind and based on how the market moves, we take a decision how much to invest and how much to expand," he said emphasising that John Deere has made an additional investment in producing a higher power tractor exclusively for the markets such as the US, Europe and Japan, among others.

It has expanded its parts distribution centre to Indore, in addition to the already existing facility in Nagpur.