About Kubota
The word kubota in Japanese denotes a well kept, well cultivated paddy field. Such was also the name of the founder of the Kubota Corporation. Mr. Gonshiro Kubota established his steel works in 1890, when he was just 19 years old. Over time, the plant evolved into an international corporation it is today.
First products of the company included water supply systems and steel piping. However, the Japanese engineers quickly moved towards more sophisticated machinery. Already in 1922, the first kerosene engine was created. This design has received honors from the Japanese Ministry of Industry and Trade in 1930.
The year 1947 brings another milestone. The company entered the agricultural sector by offering their first cultivator. Soon afterwards, in 1953, the first construction machine from Kubota was unveiled. The years 1960-1961 mark the debut of Japan’s first agricultural tractor. According to the website retrotraktor.pl, the first prototypes of the new T-15 machine were ready in 1958. It was powered by a vertical Diesel engine that generated 15 HP and had the weight of 900 kgs. Prototypes were subjected to very stringent tests that included non-stop operation for 600 hours. When production began in 1962, the new tractor achieved storming success on the Japanese market.
Great reviews of the T-15 on the home front encouraged the Kubota management to expand to other markets. In 1972, the Kubota Tractor Corporation was established in the USA. Only two years later, the first 4×4 tractor was offered in the US – a solution that was revolutionary at that time.
In the seventies, the first European branch of Kubota was established – the company Kubota Europe in France.
In 2002, the number of engines manufactured by Kubota exceeded 20 million units, and in Dec. 2009 – 25 million.
As far as the production of tractors is concerned, towards the end of the 1970s, the lineup of available models was expanded to include over 60 HP tractors. In 2010, the 3,5 million tractor rolled off the assembly line. Only a year later, the US branch of Kubota celebrated their own big jubilee. Between 1972 and 2011 in the US alone, Kubota sold 1,5 million tractors to end users.
The current production level of agricultural tractors, minitractors and ride-on movers remains on the annual level of about 250 000 units.
At present, the Kubota Corporation is active all over the world on various fields, the major ones being agricultural and ground care machines, construction machines, industrial engines, steel castings, piping and air conditioning systems.
In Poland, the Kubota brand in Poland has been present since 2004 when orange agricultural tractors were introduced. In 2007, the lineup was expanded with Kubota minitractors and ride-on movers. In December 2011, the 1000th tractor – the orchard model M7040N – was handed over to its buyer.
In November 2012, the distribution of agricultural and ground care Kubota machines in Poland was taken over by the country office of the Japanese manufacturer, the company (Deutschland) GmbH Sp. z o.o. Oddział w Polsce.