Keestrack, the new Belgian owner of the Goldoni tractor plant at Migliarina di Carpi, near Modena, Italy, plans to develop a range of tractors that before the end of this decade could stretch to 200hp.
Readers may recall that we visited the site in summer 2019. At the time it was in the hands of the Chinese Foton Lovol Group, which bought the rights to the Italian Arbos brand name mid-2014.
Arbos had big plans to develop a wide range of tractors and equipment, and as well as the 5000 tractor range (110-136hp) we saw a 7000 (220-260hp) series prototype, and even a mock-up of the brand’s first combine harvester.
Despite investing many millions of Euros, it all went ominously quiet after Agritechnica 2019, and while the official details have yet to surface, the Arbos adventure ended abruptly. Production ground to a halt and the factory was in the hands of the curator.
Enter Keestrack, a privately owned Belgian firm managed by the Hoogendoorn family. The Italian tractor plant provided the mining, recycling and construction equipment manufacturer with a perfect opportunity to enter the agricultural market. Just three weeks after the handover and after 18 months of inactivity the production line re-started April 2021.
The Goldoni facility in Migliarina di Carpi (Modena) covers 102,000m²
Goldoni is best known for its orchard, vineyard and speciality tractors, and the Italian company used the second half of last year to improve and develop products and processes to raise the Goldoni brand to a higher level. A new 9.0m-tall automated spare parts warehouse is also being installed within the plant to speed up picking times.
New products for this year include the Q80 (75hp), which slots in below the 100hp Q100 and 110hp Q110 in the current flagship range. The four-cylinder Stage V engine in the new model comes from Doosan. Like the other models, and other Goldoni tractors, the new Q models retain the familiar orange paintwork but support a new logo, decals and silver rims.
Looking ahead, the company has ambitions to develop more powerful K-series Goldoni tractors for the European and North American markets. The first step in the near future will be 110hp, and the plan is to gradually increase the power up to 200hp sometime in 2027-2029.
“We see a lot of synergy between the current businesses, such as: production systems, suppliers and dealer network, which will leverage the Goldoni business to bring success to the company,” says vice president of operations, Peter Hoogendoorn of the Keestrack Group.
Founded in 1988, today the second generation Hoogendoorn family run the Keestrack Group. With a global staff of 800+ and manufacturing facilities in Czech Republic, Italy, China and India, the company is present in 70 countries.
