The Hindu Business Line : New Holland to ramp up capacity to 25,000 units

Expansion drive
The company has been witnessing a growth rate of around 40% in the last couple of years
This year, it company expects the export portion to increase slightly

Phalguna Jandhyala

New Delhi, July 28 New Holland Tractors (India) Private Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of the $12.2- billion Case New Holland group, is looking at expanding its production capacity to close to 25,000 units by the end of the current year.

The company, which follows the calendar year as its fiscal year, currently has a capacity to manufacture 17,000 tractors at its plant located in Noida.

“The company generally works on a three-year cycle to plan its future strategies, so during the current cycle the plan is to ramp up the production capacity to between 30,000 and 32,000 units. But at the moment we are targeting a production capacity close to 25,000 units by December this year,” Mr Mario Gasparri, Managing Director, told Business Line.

Mr Gasparri, however, did not give out the exact investments that would be required for ramping up the production capabilities. “The investments would be in line with what is required to match the volumes planned and to sustain the growth,” he added.

The company also expects its revenues to cross the Rs 1,000-crore mark by the end of the year.

According to Mr Gasparri, New Holland Tractors has been witnessing a growth rate of around 40 per cent in the last couple of years and this is expected to be maintained during the current year.

“Looking at the performance of the company in the first half of the year we are confident of crossing the Rs 1,000-crore mark in revenues.

“In fact, in a couple of segments, for example, in the higher horse power segments, the growth rate has been higher than the initial projections,” he said.

Export push

Last year, out of the total revenues, around 60-65 per cent was contributed by the domestic market while the rest came from exports.

But this year, the company expects the export portion to increase slightly.

“We started exporting in a serious manner only a couple of years ago. In the initial 2-3 years, markets abroad just tested the product if it would be suited for their country.

“But now we have got the recognition that products exported from India can also be on par with the world standards and we are starting to get recognition even in the developed markets,” Mr Gasparri said.

The company currently exports to around 40 countries worldwide and last year close to 3,300 units were exported. This is expected to touch 7,000 this year.

New Holland at the moment has a total domestic market share of around six per cent.

This, however, is around 10 per cent in the higher horse power (above 41 horse power) tractors.

“The overall market share has improved slightly over the last year and since we are recognised in the top-end products we enjoy a better market share.

“However, we are in the process of reviewing the lower horse power products,” Mr Gasparri said.

Besides tractors, New Holland also offers combines, special purpose harvesters, balers, fertiliser spreaders, sprays, planters and other equipment required for harvesting and crop rotation.

Recently, the company has introduced a new machine required for the mechanised harvesting of the sugar crop in Andhra Pradesh and is looking at a few more in the segment in the coming months.

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