AGCO, a Duluth, Ga., manufacturer and distributor of tractors, combines, and a range of other agricultural equipment, plans to build a new factory this year to produce tractors. According to reports, the project carries an estimated capital cost of $50 million.
The company is the second-largest domestic manufacturer of agricultural equipment, and carries a full range of products that are sold and distributed. Its major brand names are Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson, and Valtra. AGCO’s U.S. manufacturing operations are at Hesston and Beloit, Kan., and Jackson, Minn.
The new plant will be located at an existing AGCO facility in Jackson. It will produce Massey-Ferguson and Challenger tractors at a rate of up to 2,000 units/year as early as 2012. Currently, these tractor products are imported from AGCO’s overseas plants for the North American market.
The new plant’s full capacity could reach 10,000-12,000 tractors annually in three to five years.
