Increased production capacity for small tractors, ride on mowers and utility vehicles in the U.S.A. — Construction of new U.S.A. plant and expansion of production lines at current plant —
May 26, 2015
Kubota Corporation (Head Office: Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan; President and Representative Director: Masatoshi Kimata; hereinafter “Kubota”) will establish a new production plant for utility vehicles (multi-purpose four-wheel drive vehicles; hereinafter “UVs”) at the U.S.A. manufacturing company of Kubota Manufacturing of America (hereinafter “KMA”) and will also reconstruct the production lines at KMA's existing plant. This increase in production capacity will support the further expansion of Kubota's small tractors, ride on mowers and UVs business.
1. Background
- Kubota established the tractor sales company “Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC)” in the U.S.A. in 1972 and has exported products from Japan to develop the market in U.S.A. The lineup of products has been expanded, from lawn mowing and light construction work applications to agricultural applications such as meadow management and the handling of hay. We started to manufacture the products locally in U.S.A. as the business has grown and today KMA manufactures small tractors, ride on mowers and UVs that are exported around the world.
- Although Kubota has previously worked to expand our production capacity at KMA existing plant, we have decided to establish a new plant dedicated to UVs in a location close to KMA in order to support further growth for this business. We will also reconstruct our production lines at the existing plant in order to increase our production capacity for other products.
- Kubota will aim to create a more competitive plant through this investment and the actions for operation enhancement such as cost saving projects collaborated with local R&D team.
2. Summary of investment
(1) New establishment of dedicated UVs plant
| [1] Location | Gateway Industrial Centre, Gainesville - Hall County, Georgia, U.S.A. (5 kilometers north of KMA) |
|---|---|
| [2] Size | Land 726,000 m2, building 45,000 m2 |
| [3] Investment | Total $80 million |
| [4] Products | Utility Vehicles |
| [5] Production capacity | 50,000 vehicles/year |
| [6] Timeline | Construction will start from September 2015 and mass production will start from March 2017. |
(2) Reconstruction and expansion of production lines at existing plant
| [1] Investment | Total $6 million |
|---|---|
| [2] Production capacity (after investment) |
130,000 vehicles/year for small tractors and ride on mowers |
[Summary of KMA]
| Company name | Kubota Manufacturing of America Corporation |
|---|---|
| Foundation | March 1st 1988 |
| Location | Gainesville Industrial Park North, Gainesville, Georgia, U.S.A. |
| President | Hironobu Kubota |
| Size | Land 773,000 m2, building 108,000m2 |
| Capital | $10.9 million |
| Owner | 100% owned by Kubota (including proportion of indirect ownership) |
| Products | Small tractors, ride on mowers, utility vehicles |
| Production Capacity |
80,000 vehicles/year for small tractors and ride on mowers, 30,000 vehicles/year for utility vehicles |
| Employees | 1,300 (As of April 2015) |
[Products of KMA]
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Small tractors (BX series)
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Ride on mowers (Zero turn mowers)
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Utility Vehicles