The History of Mahindra Tractors

With the largest consumer base in India, North America, South Asia, and to an extent in Australia, Mahindra Tractors is the flagship division of the Mahindra Farm Equipment Sector of Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra. Mahindra Tractors is the largest manufacturer of tractors in India and manufactures more than 300,000 tractors annually.

Mahindra created a joint venture with the International Harvester and began manufacturing Mahindra Tractors for the Indian market first in 1962. The result was Mahindra’s first tractor, the B-275. The idea behind creating this tractor was to create a tractor that could do well on the rugged Indian terrain. It then went ahead and sold 85,000 units of this tractor and since then, there was no looking back for Mahindra Tractors.

The idea behind creating tractors by Mahindra was to support the evolution of the Indian agricultural scenario with modern innovations and technological advancements. Mahindra tried to understand the needs of the farmers and tried to accordingly create products that could accelerate farming. Today, Mahindra has solutions that can help farmers across all stages of farming, i.e., from the preparation of the land to harvesting of crops. The central idea behind Mahindra tractors was not only to make farming easy but to also improve the productivity of the farmers, enable them to prosper, and to secure their future.

Mahindra Tractors have been the leader in the market since 1983. It is the market leader in most states in India except Rajasthan which is led by Massey Ferguson. Mahindra purchased 60% of Gujarat Tractors from the Government of Gujarat in 1999. These tractors are now rebranded as Trakstar and MGTL has been renamed as Gromax Agri Equipment Ltd. Mahindra acquired a majority stake in Punjab Tractors Ltd in 2007 and it was merged with Mahindra Tractors in 2009. Mahindra retained the Swaraj brand name which is now the 2nd largest tractor brand in India.

In 2011, Mahindra Tractors pioneered the 15HP Yuvraj tractor to replace the animal power on farms.

Mahindra Yuvraj 215 NXT Tractor is in the 20 HP range, compact design and hence ideal for small lands, orchards, etc. Mahindra JIVO 245 DI Tractor is in the range of 30 HP range are best suited for medium-sized land and orchards. Mahindra 275 DI TU tractor is in the range of 40 HP range have a fuel-efficient technology and are loaded with advanced features that help a farmer do more work in less time and reap great results. Mahindra 575 DI, Mahindra 475 DI, Mahindra Yuvo 575 DI and Mahindra Arjun 555 DI tractors are in the range of 50 HP category, are best suited for large lands and farms that need high powered tractors. Mahindra Arjun NOVO 605 DI-I Tractor is the in the category of above 50HP, designed with an advanced farm technology that works best on several complex farms and non-farm applications too. And the new 60 HP range and above Mahindra Novo 655 DI tractor do a great job on both farm and non-farm applications and have many modern features.

Mahindra Tractors since its inception has been growing steadily and spreading its wings all over the world. It is now expanding in the Farm Machinery space and has bought many niche players such as SAMPO in Finland, Mitsubishi Agri Machinery in Japan, Hisarlar and Erkunt in Turkey. However, all these acquisitions have a limited product range and lack a natural market for Mahindra as a whole.