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Alex Woods assumed the role of president of Kubota Tractor Corporation in July. He succeeds Todd Stucke, who has new responsibilities in Japan as deputy general manager of the Farm and Industrial Machinery Consolidated Division and deputy general manager of the Customer Solutions Division at Kubota Corporation.

Woods is a 25-year veteran of Kubota. He has worked in sales, parts, operations and, most recently, supply chain prior to his new appointment as president. He will continue to oversee supply chain functions. Kubota Tractor Corporation is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas.

Woods comes to his new position at a challenging time for the company. Kubota reported second-quarter revenue down 8% compared to the same quarter in 2024. Much of that was due to a sharp decline of 18% in North America sales of agricultural and construction equipment. Tariffs were another stressor, costing the manufacturer about $30 million.

At its recent dealer meeting, Kubota Connect in Grapevine, Texas, DTN/Progressive Farmer spoke with Woods about his new position and Kubota Tractor Corporation. The following conversation has been edited for clarity.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: In your new position, what are some of your early takeaways?

Alex Woods: There are certainly some challenges in the market right now. We're trying to navigate those and (understand) what we need to do to manage accordingly. Pricing is certainly an issue we're working through.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: Could you talk about tariffs, specifically?

Woods: We have a lot of manufacturing here in the U.S. now, and we're going to add more. But we have manufacturing across the world, and we source parts from across the world. We are certainly very privileged and honored to be able to do business in the U.S. We want to be good corporate citizens. So, it's really about understanding exactly what the rules are behind these tariffs and understanding exactly what it means to our cost structure. We basically have three levers to pull. No. 1: Is there a way for us to absorb some (tariff costs) by better management internally? And then, No. 2: What about our incentives? And then, (third), we have to look at pricing.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: Can you give us an idea of where you're at in terms of pricing?

Woods: Midyear, July 1, we made some changes to our incentive programs, basically into our financing, and that took care of us for a while. And then, in September, we introduced a 2% to 3% across-the-board price increase. We need to be understanding exactly how the tariff is applied and what our real cost is and then decide what to do next year.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: Regarding Kubota's zero-percent financing, are you doing away with that?

Woods: No. We still offer zero percent. For example, for excavators, we are zero for 36 months. In the past, we might have done zero for 48 (months). For tractors, at one point in time, we were up to 84 months (zero-percent financing). We still offer 84-month financing, but for 5.99(%).

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: Without trying to put words in your mouth regarding tariffs, you're saying you can play by the rules once you understand the rules.

Woods: There is some complexity there. It's been a little bit tough to find the people who can explain the rules. So, it takes a little bit of time to work through that. We're working through that right now, and (as) soon as we get a handle on it, we'll decide what our next move is.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: When we look at the monthly tractor sales report, sales of tractors under 100 horsepower seem "less bad" than sales for larger tractors, those over 100 horsepower. Sales of tractors 40- to 100-horsepower were up a bit in August. Does that portend improvement in the market?

Woods: If we look at the first five months of this year, it was basically a repeat of the last six months of last year -- not very good. June and July were actually pretty good months compared to the last 12 months. So, it points toward maybe things are at least flattening out. If you watch consumer confidence, our sales were basically mirroring that. Consumer confidence was coming up a little bit in June, July; our sales picked up. August turned back down a little bit. Confidence went back down a little bit. I think there (were) more discussions about tariffs. September is looking good. We'll have flat sales (compared) to last year, more than likely, which is a pretty positive sign in the current market conditions. We are cautiously optimistic that we're going to find this bottom and then flatten out.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: Is there any one consumer category in which you are seeing signs of life?

Woods: As you mentioned, the market over 40 horsepower, if we get into some tractors, especially get over 70 horsepower. Those folks are buying it for a reason, and they appear to still have cash available. And if they need it. If you get under 40 (horsepower), especially under 20 horsepower, then we're really talking about consumer confidence, right? That's the market that is certainly retracted more.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: Regarding your commercial ag business, tractors with 100-plus horsepower, what does that market look like?

Woods: (Our) products fit very well with that hay, livestock (and) dairy customers. And, you know, those markets have been better. Beef prices have been (higher); dairy prices (are) pretty good. So, even though we talk about agriculture as a whole having a tough year, in those particular markets, things are a little better. And I think we've been able to enjoy some of that.

Dan Miller can be reached at dan.miller@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @DMillerPF

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