Kubota Corp., Asia's largest tractor maker, expects the U.S. market for the machinery to shrink 15 percent in 2009 as the recession saps demand.
The tractor market "may deteriorate further" unless sales stabilize in the second half, Managing Director Tetsuji Tomita said in an interview. A 50 percent drop in demand for miniexcavators in the United States and Europe may continue for the next six months, he said.
Farmers and consumers in the U.S., Kubota's largest overseas market, have delayed buying tractors used in agricultural production and to mow lawns. The company is reducing product lines, freezing hiring and shifting its focus to China and other emerging markets as the deepening recession reduces sales in North America and Europe, Tomita said.