Kubota Corporation (Location: Osaka, Japan; President and Representative Director: Yuichi Kitao; hereinafter “Kubota”) announced today that it will transfer part of its production of compact track loaders (CTLs) for the North American market, currently undertaken by the Sakai Plant in Sakai, Osaka, to the United States. Great Plains Manufacturing Inc. (GPM), a U.S. subsidiary of Kubota, will set up a new plant for CTLs in Salina, Kansas, to start mass production in 2022. By establishing this new production facility and thereby enhancing our capacity to quickly respond to our customers’ requests, we aim to further expand our business in the area of compact construction machinery.

1.Background and aims

• North America represents the world’s largest market for compact construction machinery, and Kubota has been working in recent years to expand its business there by reinforcing its sales network and enhancing its product lineup.
• As part of this effort, Kubota acquired GPM, a U.S. company with a competitive advantage in the development and production of tractor implements and construction machinery attachments, in 2016, and has been generating significant synergies, for instance, in making product development, production, and sales more aligned to customer needs.
• Currently, compact construction machinery for North America are mostly produced in Japan. Producing such machinery in the United State, where they are consumed, will enable us to reduce the lead time and mitigate the foreign exchange risk. In addition, we aim to achieve enhanced compatibility with attachments by having construction machinery produced by GPM.

• 

  CTL model to be produced in the newly established plant

• 

  By switching between different attachments, CTLs can be used for various tasks such as light civil engineering works and gardening.

2.About the new plant

Location	Salina, Kansas, U.S.
Scale	74,000 square meter facility on 647,000 square meters of land
Investment	Approximately 53 million dollars (5.6 billion yen)
Product	SVL65 compact track loader
Annual production	3,000 units (planned for 2023)
Number of employees	120 (planned)
Commencement of mass production	September 2022 (planned)

About GPM

Company name	Great Plains Manufacturing Inc.
Founded	1976 (Kubota group company since 2016)
Representative	Linda Salem, President and CEO
Headquarters	Salina, Kansas, U.S.
Number of employees	Approx. 1,500
Business	Manufacturing and sale of farm machinery implements and construction machinery attachments

Share This Article