III UGHING

just got posh

Ikhhlaq Singh Aujla ITNN
t's anoldstory that farmers from
North India lovetheir Mercedes
almost asmuch astheir mustard.
According toaConfederation of
Indian Industry-AT Kearney
report, Punjab alone accounted for
2,870units out of 10,870imported cars
sold in India in 2012_This included
names likeBMw, Mercedes and Audi.
Today,companies believe they are
right onthemoney bylaunching luxu-
ry tractors targeted at consumers pow-
ered by rural wealth. Escorts Ltd is
already selling Ferrari tractors in In-
dia, whileItalian manufacturer SAME
Deutz-Fahr (SDF)Group, owners of the
Lamborghini tractor brand, will be
bringing arange of Lamborghini trac-
tors to India by2014.
One of the first toget into the pre-
mium tractor market was Mahindra &
Mahindra, India's largest tractor man-
ufacturer. Back in 2011,it announced
the launch of Arjun International, a
premium tractor with ahigh-powered
engine and air-conditioned cabin,
priced at Rs 15lakh. The boomin the
luxury car industry - valued at $5.8
billionin2011and expectedtotrebleby
2015-encouraged international play-
erstoenter thehigh-endtractor market
as well."India's interest in high-end
productshas beenprovedbytheluxury
car segment and wehopethesetractors
will catchthe imagination of thefarm-
ing community like luxury cars," S
Sridhar, CEOof Escorts Agri Machin-
ery saidinan earlier interview toTOI.
One of the oldest manufacturers of
tractors inIndia, Escorts has signed a
partnership agreement with Italian
company BCS SpA to distribute Fer-
rari tractors in India. Rajan Nanda,
chairman and managing director; Es-
corts Ltdbelieves that Indian agricul-
turists haveevolvedfrombeingsubsist-
ent farmers tothose with anentrepre-
neurial bentof mind. "Today'sfarmers
arelooking for equipment that ishigh
onprecision and output Escorts wants
to partner with this forward looking
Indian farmer by bringing interna-
tional technology anddesign standards
tothe Indian tractor market."
Escorts isoffering a26lIP machine
suitable for specialised farming, such
as in vineyards and fruit orchards.
Priced at Rs8lakh, it is already avail-
able in Maharashtra and is being tar-
geted at Kolhapur; Sangli and Nashik
districts. "The needs of orchard and
vineyard growers are more advanced
and the product will address them ef-
ficiently," says Nikhil Nanda, joint
managing director, Escorts Ltd.
Uday Mahajan says he was im-
pressed bymore than just the brand
name of the 26lIP Ferrari tractor he
bought ThefarmerfromPeth Vadgaon
in Haat Kanagale tehsil of Maharash-
tra's Kolhapur district, among thefirst
tobuy theFerrari tractor in India, re-
searchedthebestoptions for his40-acre
paddy field. "I saw 20different video
clipsbeforezeroing in onEscorts Fer-
rari," says Mahajan, who paid Rs 6.5
lakhfor thetractor and ispleased with
theresults. "Ittookhalf alitreof diesel
tosowoneacreof land. Hadthesowing
been done manually, I would have to
assign six farm hands and pay them
A Ferrari for your farm? That's not a far-fetched dream.
Encouraged by booming sales of luxury cars, companies are
driving premium tractors into the rural market
E R HAR VE ST: lamborghini tractors are likelyto hit the markets next year
Rs600per day" He'sparticularly happy
about the four-wheel drive which
makes turning in confined spaces
easier as well as the extensive attach-
ments the tractor can accommodate.
With its Lamborghini tractors, the
SDF group is targeting rich farmers,
high net worth individuals with farm-
inginterests and owners of golf cours-
es,cricketstadiumsandluxuryresorts.
Lamborghini tractor models in Rani-
pet, Tamil Nadu, for export toEurope
and Malaysia.
Harminder Singh, aSDF distribu-
tor fromBhogpur inJ alandhar district,
believeshis clients will beexcitedabout
luxury tractors. "Someof our farmers
have rich NRI relatives who will be
keen to invest, while others will just
want tobethefirst tobuy anexclusive,
high-end foreign brand," hesays.
Luxury tractors aren't just meas-
ured by horsepower (lIP) and other
technical specifications, it's the cus-
tomisation offeredthat setsthemapart.
Internationally, luxury tractors accom-
modate small workstations, andfeature
fridges or cool boxesanddrink holders,
sound systems andluxury trims, either
in wood or leather. They even have
leather steering wheels.
While some distributors believe
there isamarket for luxury tractors in
India, others are more cautious. Ac-
cording tothestatefarm departments,
the number of tractors in Punjab and
Haryana are about 4.43lakh and 2.70
lakh respectively. Most of these are
high horsepower and suitable for large
farms, but since land holdings inboth
states have been shrinking over the
years most machines are under-uti-
lised. Tractors are used for about 400
hours ayear inPunjab, far lower than
the 1,000hours per annum required to
make them economically viable. For
new entrants to make a dent in this
already saturated market, dealers point
out that local brand-building and an
efficient after-sales service count for
more thanjust aluxurious brand iden-
tity. American company NewHolland
Ford, oneof the world's biggest manu-
facturers of tractors,launched inIndia
in 1998. "Despite being abig foreign
brand, initially westruggled togainthe
confidence of farmers in Punjab and
Haryana, who were unaware of our
name," says adealer.
Manpreet Singh Bajwa, afarmer
from Khaira Kalan village in Mansa
district of south Punjab, saysthetrac-
tor market ishighly competitive. "Com-
panies offer everything fromfreeafter-
salesservice toaccessories topersuade
farmers totrade intheir oldmachines,"
hesays.J ang Bahadur SinghfromJ am-
shed village, J alandhar district, isone
of thearea's biggest potatofarmers. He
is skeptical about the utility value of
thesefancyproducts. "I'dwantto know
whetherrotavators, straw reapers and
balers of large sizes can beattached
and operatedeasily with thesemodels,"
he says, revealing that while some
farmers are already operating 90lIP
tractors with air-conditioned cabinsfor
drivers, parts and accessories that can
befitted tothese tractors arenot easily
available in the market. "Farmers are
not able to get the best output or the
machines are under-utilised,' hesays.
With Dileep Athavale in Pune and
Nikhil Deshmukh in Kolhapur
It ' s t h e c u s t o m i s at i o n
t h at s et s l u x u r y
t r ac t o r s ap ar t . Th ey
c an ac c o m m o d at e
s m al l w o r k s t at i o n s ,
f r i d g es , s o u n d
s y s t em s an d l u x u r y
t r i m s s u c h as l eat h er
s t eer i n g w h eel s
Their machines are priced approxi-
mately Rs 10lakh upwards abroad.
BhanuSharma, managing director and
CEOof SDFIndiaPvtLtd, toldanews-
paper in April, "Weare studying the
market and may introduce somerange
of Lamborghini tractors in about a
year." SDFalready manufactures select