I agree that Kioti's business model in the CUT market seems to be working well. They don't exactly lead in technology but they have mastered the art of building a very reliable well spec'd tractor and selling it at a price that JD and Kubota cannot match. The Kioti tractors are a tad less techno advanced but for most tractor buyers that doesn't matter. What they have demonstrated is that they have designed well thought out tractors, are responsive to customer wants (HST, independent PTO, good ergonomics, fully featured, great FELs, best warranty), that they have very good quality manufacturing and then they go and sell them for thousands less than generally equivalent green and other shade of orange tractors. Kioti's new DK90 actually is bigger than anything Kubota makes and much better priced than any fully featured 90+hp JD or NH. I know NH has a bigger market share and broader range but I wonder how long it will be before Kioti catches the third of the big three at least in the head to head market for equivalent models. The CK and new DK lineups are hard for any of the big 3 to match for value and as both the manufacturing quality and customer experience seem to be excellent it won't be long before even more value oriented buyers are comfortable joining the pack. JD and Kubota could put the hurt on Kioti by dropping their prices but there seems to be little evidence that is happening. The big three haven't even bothered to match Kioti's 4 year warranty. Mahindra seems to be the other main competition for Kioti but the red line up just doesn't seem quite as well thought out even though the Mahindra tractors are excellent. Not quite up with Kioti on ergonomics or features.
Other than a few rough edges with customer service/support, I think Kioti's major issue right now is their dealer network. They are working on it and have weeded out some of the smaller dealers but there are still not as many well established dealerships as you might like. No question in my mind that they have a long way to go before they catch the big three in that category.
Kioti also needs a SCUT like the BX to get entry level exburb buyers a choice of machine that is just a step up from a big box riding mower. The CK20 is quite a big jump for a first time tractor buyer and is really a bit big for someone with less than an acre or so who wants to do their own landscaping etc. The
BX23/24/25 are quite brilliant in that arena and Kioti doesn't have anything to compete. It's interesting that they decided to bring out the big DK90 and the UTV before attending to the "big lawnmower" segment.
I think the analogy to Hyundai's success in building their share of the car market at the expense of the Japanese and US automakers is quite relevant. Enter with low cost, develop a reputation for reliability and value with successive generations of vehicles and then suddenly one day you are a player. Hyundai just won car of the year with their newest offering. Hyundai went from questionable to mainstream in just a few years so it is not hard to imagine Kioti following that path.
