In an industry that has remained flat over the last one year, and seen 13 per cent drop in sales in the June-September 2012 quarter, high- end tractors seem to find no dearth of takers, tractor maker Escorts has discovered.

The company’s two recently launched premium products under the Framtrac brand with engines of 60 HP and 65 HP have a wait-list of over one month, says S. Sridhar, CEO, Escorts Agri Machinery (EAM) Group of Escorts Ltd. It has sold over a 1,000 in the last five months, he added.

The company launched upgraded versions of its Powertrac recently. The new Diesel-Saver Plus series offers 10 per cent power upgrade.

The belief that the tractor industry is upwardly headed has prompted Escorts to chalk out a strategy that focuses on the premium segment, generally defined as 45 HP and above in power. “High-end tractors currently account for 15 per cent of the overall Indian tractor market that currently stands at around 525,000 units annually,” Sridhar says.

Currently, around 55 per cent of the total units the company sells are premium products.

Sridhar says that EAM aims to be the market leader in this segment in the next three years.

Toward this end, the company has a host of new product launches in the pipeline and plans to bring in a new tractor every six months, including one early next year that will be a game-changer, he says.

Currently, Escorts has a 12 per cent market share in the domestic market that is dominated by Mahindras, and sold around 62,000 tractors last year.

It is one of three players with premium segment offerings and plans to cash in on growing demand for higher end mechanisation products from well-to-do farmers.

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