Vision Beyond Farm Mechanisation

Sonalika is one of the leading global tractor brand. What has been the driving force for this success?

Sonalika Tractors is one of India’s leading tractor manufacturer and the No.1 Exports brand from India. The company is undergoing a rapid transformation to emerge as Mega Agri Ecosystem with its widest tractor portfolio in 20-120 HP and 70+ implements to boost farm mechanisation in the country as well as globally. Sonalika’s strategy is to offer customised farming solutions specific to the needs of the farmers as per their crop & geography, and it is therefore appreciated by over 11 lakh farmers across 130 countries. Our customised tractor portfolio range is well suited for various applications (Land preparation to Harvesting) and crops (Potato special, Orchard special, Paddy, Wheat etc). Recognised by the Government of India as a contributing partner with the Niti-Aayog, for its inspiring project to double farmer’s income in the country, the brand today aims to lead the agri evolution in the country across the value chain.

Tractor industry demand is on a high. What has been your strategy to ride this demand?

Sonalika tractors and implements are very well accepted and appreciated for their technology as well as consistent performance, backed by a strong R&D team at Hoshiarpur & Delhi-NCR. This team constantly innovates to address market requirements and based on the feedback has been introducing new products within a short time frame. Subsequently, our phenomenal growth rides the dominant strategy to introduce new advanced tractors at regular intervals.

Sonalika Sikander series that was launched two years back has now been contributing 75-80% of our volumes. We have lately launched the upgraded version of Sikander as Sikander DLX (with 10 Deluxe features), along with our premium tractor series viz. Tiger (Designed in Europe), Mahabali (Puddling special for Southern Markets) and Chhatrapati (For Maharashtra). These new tractors are expected to contribute 20-25% of volumes in our overall sales.

Sonalika has been creating record new sales highs, surpassing the industry growth even during this pandemic. Can you please share the success mantra?

Sonalika has outperformed the industry growth month after month in FY21 and we registered our highest ever H1 sales with 63,561 tractors with highest ever monthly sale of 17,704 tractors in Sept’20 & 51.4% domestic growth. Further, we achieved a historical milestone of delivering 19,000 Tractors in Oct’20, making it our highest ever retail in the beginning of festive season.

For our Agro Solutions business, we registered 26,530 implements sale in H1 and crossed our entire last year FY’20 implement sales in just six months. We registered a record breaking 135% growth in September’20 & sold 6,400 units, while outperforming the industry growth of est. 30%. Volumes increased significantly to our record breaking 10,018 implements sale in October’20. Our strong national brand presence, a well organised tech-enabled supply chain, largest dealer network (1,100+) and 24 depots collectively act as the backbone for us to continue surpassing industry growth.

Globally, we have strengthened our leadership position in the export markets month after month in FY’21 despite the pandemic and cumulatively, in April-Oct’20, we have exported 11,325 tractors against 9,994 units last year in same period, commanding market share of 26.6% with a significant difference from a nearest brand. We are growing with very fast pace in Europe and have registered a growth of approximately 50% as compared to last year from April – Oct 2020 even in these unprecedented times. With 100% presence across all European countries we are proud to mention that our tractors are successfully operated by more than 20,000 satisfied customers.

Sonalika has recently unveiled its brand’s new value proposition stated as ‘Leading Agri Evolution’. Can you please throw some light on the philosophy behind it?

Sonalika is a global conglomerate with multiple verticals comprising Farm Mechanisation, Agro Solutions, AFL Finance, Agri Incubation along with our CSR, Farm to Fork and Skill Development Centres that collectively aspire to contribute towards farmer’s prosperity and ‘Lead Agri Evolution’ across the globe. We uphold the values of innovation and excellence in design technology solutions for farmers, combining the intellect and collaborative spirit of our people and associates to boost farm mechanisation in the country. Sonalika always aims at developing technologically advanced products keeping in mind farmers at the core so that the designed machinery increases their income levels exponentially. We have been powering the belief of Aatmanirbhar Bharat at our World’s No.1 vertically integrated tractor manufacturing plant as we manufacture everything in-house and deliver prosperity beyond horizons with our customised tractors as well as implements across the globe.