Source: Kubota news release
From CES 2024, the biggest tech event in the world, Kubota North America Corporation (KNA) unveiled its 2030 vision and holistic approach to innovation and technology integration, built on more than 130 years of providing customer solutions to societal issues in the areas of food production, clean water, and the environment.
Company leaders from around the world came together to provide attendees with an immersive experience into the future for its next generation of equipment that will seamlessly integrate artificial intelligence, automation, and electrification.
“Kubota is transforming from a trusted equipment provider into a solutions provider,” said Todd Stucke, Kubota Executive Officer and newly appointed president of Kubota Tractor Corporation. “We are well known in the compact equipment market for our versatility, durability, and reliability, and our machines have always been easy to own and easy to operate.
“Today, they’re evolving to be even more intuitive, putting data and AI directly in the hands of residential equipment owners to enhance their lives and make things easier, more productive, and more efficient.”
Kubota unveiled the New Agri Concept – a fully electric, multi-purpose vehicle – and released an immersive video illustrating Kubota’s vision for bringing autonomous technology and AI together to provide solutions for a residential or small-acreage grower. Key technologies highlighted in the immersive video include: automatic data collection, real-time monitoring, AI identifying potential issues, automation addressing labor challenges, water management automation, and a data platform enhancing productivity.
The fully electric New Agri Concept is designed for flexibility and to support a wide range of tasks. The vehicle’s six independent drive motors and a standard three-point hitch allow it to use many existing implements for common operations including mowing and tilling. Fast charging from 10% to 80% in less than six minutes enables flexibility by not constraining customers with long charge times, reduces vehicle downtime, and allows the vehicle to quickly get back to work when in operation. Electric drives enable quiet operation making the New Agri Concept easy to operate in residential settings or at night.
“I am excited to help unveil our New Agri Concept, which showcases our design philosophy and builds on Kubota’s long legacy of technology innovation for the betterment of society,” said Senior Technologist for Kubota North America Brett McMickell. “This concept vehicle, as shown in the immersive video, displays the future potential of fusing digital and physical to provide complete solutions for our customers.
“Many technologies, such as AI, connectivity, and autonomy, need to come together in order to realize Kubota’s vision of providing solutions across the food value chain – from growers to consumers. Kubota provided more than a vision, but an invitation to be part of the future where technology works seamlessly with our customers to create a more sustainable and efficient society.”
Kubota was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1890 and today operates in more than 120 countries. The company’s unprecedented design philosophies were born on the founder’s beliefs across three key areas of food production, clean water, and the environment, which continue to guide the company’s technology and innovation strategies more than 130 years later.
Today, in North America, the company is best known for its iconic orange compact equipment operating on farms and ranches, commercial and residential properties, and construction sites across the continent.
Kubota North America continues to expand, building new facilities that bring more jobs to advanced manufacturing, and growing its footprint of innovation centers, research and development, and equipment testing sites in the U.S., bringing more solutions to the North American marketplace. For more information, visit KubotaUSA.com.
About Kubota North America Corporation
Kubota North America Corporation (KNA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kubota Corporation, with headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, serves as the central business hub for all KNA companies in the U.S. and Canada, where leadership closely connects resources and shares talent across all lines of Kubota’s business. Kubota Corporation, based in Osaka, Japan, and together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells a range of machinery, including tractors, construction equipment, lawn and garden equipment, hay tools and other performance-matched implements to the North American market. For more information, visit KubotaUSA.com or Kubota.ca.
