Building upon its minority investment stake in US electric autonomous tractor company – Monarch Tractor, CNH Industrial has entered into an exclusive, multi-year licensing agreement for electrification technologies.
Headquartered in the US state of California, Monarch Tractor was founded in 2019, and is committed to elevating farming practices to enable clean, efficient, and economically viable solutions for farmers. In 2020 the firm introduced the world’s first fully electric, driver optional, smart tractor integrated on a single platform. CNH Industrial participated in the firm’s US$20 million Series A funding round in March 2021.
The new license agreement furthers CNH Industrial’s ongoing commitment to decarbonising agriculture through alternative propulsion systems. Specifically the deal foresees the launch of a scalable, modular electrification platform focusing on low horsepower tractors. These will be developed across multiple product families in the coming years, using an agile, customer-lead process.
Electrification and machine automation are key tenets of CNH Industrial’s strategy to become an even stronger technology leader in agriculture and drive customer value. This mutually beneficial partnership enables CNH Industrial to enhance its internal electrification capabilities and develop and implement new electrified platforms faster. In turn, Monarch Tractor will be able to harness benefits of CNH Industrial’s deep sector expertise in product, brand, distribution, and supply chain strength.
In a statement, Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer of CNH Industrial said “We are confident that the new pathways provided by Monarch will rapidly strengthen our competitive position in sustainable precision farming. Their talented team, exceptional engineering acumen and Silicon Valley R&D ecosystem will greatly enhance our digital capabilities. We look forward to working with Monarch to accelerate innovation in EV technology and expeditiously bring customer-valued, autonomous, fully electric solutions to the world’s farmers.”
