AGCO Launching Autonomous Retrofit Kit

Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology Conference in Boston this week, AGCO Chairman, President and CEO Eric Hansotia told investors and media AGCO is readying for the market this year a retrofit autonomous tractor product and a new, targeted spraying system.

"We'll be bringing to the market an autonomous retrofit kit [where you will] take your existing tractor, put this kit on a tractor of today and make it autonomous," Hansotia told conference attendees.

During his 30-minute fireside chat, Hansotia told analysts and investors that AGCO's income projects are two years ahead of schedule and that today the equipment and technology producer has a 10% "large-ag" market share in North America and is pushing toward a 20% share.

Here are a few of Hansotia's comments from the session.

AUTONOMOUS RETROFITS

"We'll be bringing to the market an autonomous retrofit kit [where you will] take your existing tractor, put this kit on a tractor of today and make it autonomous," Hansotia said. "We think this is the way the market will adopt this type of feature, as opposed to buying an autonomous machine from the factory. That's the way guidance happened back in the early 2000s. It was a retrofit. We're still targeting 2030 for [autonomous] solutions all around the cropping cycle. Having said that, our main investment is automating features. Every farmer can take advantage of that. Some farmers will go the next step and leverage autonomous machines, but we think that will still probably be a niche that will grow over time. All farmers can leverage [automation]."

NEW AND TARGETED TECHNOLOGIES

"First, we've automated the entire soil sampling process [with] an automated lab. It gives us super accurate, low-cost [results] with more precision. Second, is the autonomous retrofit solution for tractors, making for an automated grain cart [solution]. The combine can summon the tractor, the combine unloads on the go, it says release, the tractor drives away and goes to the side of the field to unload. All without an operator in the cab. A third one would be targeted spraying. We'll be launching that this fall where an artificial intelligence library identifies a weed ... and sprays only the weed."

NEW SERVICE MODEL

"Our industry has had 100 years of a brick-and-mortar model where the farmer has to come into the store to research the machine, to buy the machine, get their parts and service. Well, like many brick-and-mortar industries, the customer says I want something different. We've flipped it 180 degrees. Instead of having the farmer come into the business, the business goes to the farmer. We use connected machines, remote monitoring, the dealer buys these really nice service trucks, and we do all the work on the farm. Digital tools, service trucks and an on-farm first mindset. Instead of an experience that is like going to the mall, it is very much like [using] Amazon."

FENDT TO THE FRONT

"Fendt is our premium brand. Historically it was fundamentally a tractor business in Europe. About five years ago, a little more, we decided to make this a global business and we're going to make it a full line [of equipment]. Instead of just tractors, we're going to serve the farmer [through] the entire cropping cycle, from planting, to spraying, to harvesting and tractors. We redesigned our tractors. We launched a ground-up planter program (Momentum planter). Same thing with the combine, a clean sheet combine (IDEAL combine) and redesigned our sprayers (Rogator 900) to fit with the Fendt platform."

MASSEY FERGUSON HAS A PLACE

"Massey Ferguson [has] become the global, straightforward and dependable brand. Fendt clearly [is] our premium brand. They play very different positions in the market, competing for different customers, with different products, and different value propositions at a different price point. They fundamentally go after a different customer. That was the intent, the plan. When you add all three of our brands (Fendt, Massey Ferguson, Valtra) together, we have grown. Fendt has grown the most; Massey and Valtra a little bit less. But AGCO is clearly taking [market] share."

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

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