New tractors and machines were not the only talking point on the stands of Case IH and New Holland at SIMA recently where CNH Industrial CEO Hubertus Mühlhaüser provided a few pointers for the future.
One of the main ones was increased levels of differentiation between the Case IH, New Holland and Steyr tractor brands, something he would like to see happen quite quickly.
Another important take home message from the French show is that the two companies don’t just want to sell tractors and combines. The combined efforts of Case IH and New Holland doubled telehandler sales in Europe last year and the plan is to sell more grassland and cultivation kit following the acquisition of Kongskilde Industries.
An increasing number of products are filtering through to the New Holland line-up, which for this season includes new mowers, tedders, rakes and ploughs.
And this brings us to the focus of CNH Industrial’s future strategy, which, has in recent years focused mainly on organic growth. This will remain important, but Mr Mühlhaüser has drawn up an ambitious strategic plan to seek new business.
“We have a few gaps in our product portfolios to fill and could do something in the future. More consolidation is possible within the industry and we are on the hunt.”
Something on his wish list is a cultivator or grassland equipment manufacturer for Case IH, which we understand will not have access to Kongskilde equipment.
“We have a few gaps to fill in our product portfolios and could do something in the future,” said CNH Industrial CEO Hubertus Mühlhaüser.
The CNH Industrial top man is keeping his options open but would like to acquire or partner with European short liners and does not rule out something with a company making just one product line.
This is not limited just to the hardware, and with one eye on the future, he said it is possibly more interesting to buy a technology company.
The company invests over €1 billion in R+D each year. Half of this year’s budget is earmarked for three main spearpoints: alternative drivelines, digitalisation and automation, the latter of which the CNH Industrial top man reckons will be one of the mega trends in the ag industry.
More details in the May issue.
