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India accounted for around 36% of the estimated 2.5 million tractors sold worldwide last year.
While the average size of a tractor in India is much smaller than in Europe or North America, the market is booming, with a record 915,474 tractors sold last year – five times greater than the Western European and three times larger than North American markets.
In numerical terms, India accounted for around 36% of the estimated 2.5 million tractors sold worldwide last year.
Indeed, the 2023 figures were not only higher than the 900,000 tractors sold in 2021 and 2022, but a huge increase on the 700,000 units five years ago.
Building more than 150,000 tractors at its factories every year, Mahindra is the market leader, followed by another big player called Tafe and numerous other brands including Escorts, Farmer, and Sonalika. The Indian tractor market is also supplied by companies BCS, Argo with its McCormick and Landini brands, John Deere, New Holland, and SDF.
With an agricultural area of over 200 million hectares (140 million hectares cultivated and more than half irrigated), compared to New Zealand that has 13.8 million hectares (53.4% of total area) under agricultural use, the value of the Indian tractor and equipment market is expected to exceed €15 billion by 2025, rising from €11 billion in 2020.
The market is in decline in the United States, Canada and Brazil. In Europe, sales are falling in Germany, France and Spain. Turkey is experiencing a sharp decline, whilst the economic strategies and policies implemented by India and China are driving purchases in both countries.
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