Kubota Corp., Asia's largest tractor maker, said China machinery sales may miss their 2009 target because government subsidies for farmers favor domestic makers of agricultural equipment.
Chinese sales of machinery such as tractors and combines may reach ¥40 billion this year, up 48 percent from 2008, Tetsuji Tomita, a senior managing director in charge of the business, said Tuesday in Osaka, where the company is based. Tomita in May said he had expected the sales to double from ¥27 billion.
China this year paid 13 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) in subsidies to farmers who bought agricultural equipment, almost 10 times the amount of previous years, and Kubota was counting on the stimulus to boost its sales, Tomita said.