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Growth Power & Lifestyle

The United States of America is made up of 50 states. This includes 48 mainland states and also the states of Alaska and Hawaii. It covers an area of 9,628,000 km2 (ranking third globally) and is roughly 25 times larger than Japan. The size of the State of California on the western coast is roughly equivalent to the land area of Japan. The total population of the country is approximately 310 million. This also ranks third globally, following China and India. This land area and population are clear indications of the “large scale” of America. However, this is not a country that is “just big.” Its GDP (nominal) in 2013 was approximately 16.8 trillion USD. China had the second largest GDP in the world at 9.2 trillion USD and Japan had the third at 4.9 trillion USD. Even combined, China's and Japan's GDP figures still fall short of the American economy's total size. The “New York Stock Exchange” is the largest stock market in the world and has a total market value more than four times larger than that of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. When NASDAQ is also added, just these two markets in New York account for roughly 37% of the global market value. There has been no weakening of the “strength” that America has to lead the global economy.

It can be said that the American economy has continued to recover since 2010. It has been supported by factors such as the new energy revolution brought about by “shale oil” and positive indicators can be seen such as rising employment rates and increased housing starts. The increase in population is a characteristic particular to America that is not seen in the advanced countries of Europe and is worthy of special mention. While Japan and many other advanced nations are facing the issues raised by an “aging society,” America is accepting immigrants and its population continues to grow by 1% annually. The diverse population will no doubt continue to expand the large scale and strength of the country from here forward.

While collecting data in America this time, we saw many sites of housing construction. The “housing starts” have now recovered up to the million per month level and confirm the underlying strength of this country. We also saw many pieces of KUBOTA construction machinery at these building sites. There were also orange KUBOTA tractors and mowers in the gardens of the newly built private houses. It has been around 45 years since KUBOTA first expanded into the U.S. The company now takes more than a 40% share of the market for compact tractors. KUBOTA has become part of the American lifestyle.

In Japan, home gardens are popular as a hobby, with people growing vegetables themselves for their own consumption. However, the impression received in America is that this is more deeply rooted in people's lifestyles. People work at a company on weekdays but spend their weekends working in their large gardens in their suburban homes, tending to their flower beds and lawns or growing vegetables. There are also people who work in the major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and then buy land and housing on the outskirts after their retirement and begin the “country life” they have dreamed of. Depending on the scale, it seems that some of these people also keep livestock such as chickens.

If we look back on the founding of America, many of the immigrants who came to the new continent from Europe were farmers. People open up the vast land, build their own houses, raise livestock and cultivate crops. The gardens are vast and there is a huge enthusiasm among people to do everything with their own hands. Although we may be exaggerating, it seems when we see the large scale of things that the values that were important to the pioneers have led to the lifestyles of the European-origin Americans of today.

It is a lifestyle in touch with flowering plants and the soil in a rich natural environment. The compact but highly functional and high quality orange tractors are a partner supporting that kind of lifestyle.

Customers actually come to KUBOTA dealers looking for a reliable single piece of equipment that can simultaneously cut and collect the grass, dig holes for tree planting, carry the soil and trees, plow the vegetable garden and clear away the snow in the winter. Many of the customers are repeat customers, but the expressions on the faces of the users looking for their first piece of equipment show the elation of being on the verge of achieving their dream lifestyles.

In this way, KUBOTA is making a contribution to the quality of life of the American people.