It has taken the Italian authorities less than five months to approve the acquisition of the Goldoni tractor business by the Chinese Foton Lovol Group. Safeguarding the future of the historic Italian tractor brand, the new owner plans to invest in the factory in Migliarina di Carpi (Modena) and develop new ranges of Goldoni tractors. It remains to be seen whether the facility will ultimately be used to make the three tractor (100-250hp) ranges unveiled by Italian subsidiary Lovol Arbos at Agritechnica last year.
One of China’s largest agricultural equipment manufacturers, each year Foton Lovol claims to make around 100,000 tractors and 50,000 combines. The Goldoni acquisition is another important step in the company’s plans to not only grow these volumes, but also develop Lovol Arbos as a global brand. To this end, the company has already established an R+D centre in Italy, and at the end of 2014 bought Italian precision drill maker MaterMacc.
