Q&A with Carlo Lambro, Brand President of New Holland
On the heels of launching the CR11 combine at Agritechnica 2023, Carlo Lambro gave Farm Journal a one-on-one interview to talk about the brand’s global footprint, its segments of focus in North America and the future of New Holland.
You used the world’s largest indoor farm machinery show, Agritechnica, to unveil the CR11 combine. How did the event go?
For us at CNH, and New Holland, it was good show. There were a lot of expectations of new products and new launches. We are continuing our strategy to show our products linked to our brands’ positioning. Each of the three brands – New Holland, Case IH, Steyr – have different positioning. New Holland is more full line — livestock to row crop. The star was the new CR Combine, a Class 11 combine with the New Holland legacy of the Twin Rotor design. This machine has been in the works for more than 10 years, and we brought the idea of the largest machine with the technology embedded in the machine. We ran several test units in the U.S. and Canada, and the tests were all very good.
What’s your outlook for the machinery industry?
2024, for the big cash crop segment, will still be a good business, but maybe not like 2022, which was a very high year. The livestock business is still suffering a little. Next year (2024), we expect business down globally about 5% to 10% – Asia/Pacific is flat, Europe is down, Latin America is probably down 7% to 10%. One of the most resilient businesses is in the U.S. and Canada.
What is New Holland’s strategy in North America?
We have four pillars we are focused on: brand, product, technology and network.
We are refreshing our brand, which has a legacy of more than 120 years. In North America, our brand is stronger in Canada than the U.S. – but we are working on that.
Our product lineup will continue to be full line. And we are making new agreements, such as with LS, via a joint venture where our products are made at our plant in India in addition to their South Korean plant. And we’re not forgetting the large cash crop segment. Very soon, we’ll launch a new 4WD with tracks. In all, in the next four years, we will launch 50 new products globally.
The third pillar is technology, where we have hired a lot of engineering talent. And with Raven, we are creating more products and technology linked to the farmer.
The fourth pillar is the network, which is important because our mission is to produce and give technology to the farmer through our dealers. We believe the dealers are central in our strategy in being close to the customer. We consider the customer like a family, and our dealers are ready to help the customer and support them all while representing the value of the brand.
What is your overall supply outlook?
We still see some areas where the supply isn’t where we should be — mainly on the big machines. The rest of the product offering is back to normality; we recovered back in April and May (2023). By the middle of 2024, we will be back to normality.
How is New Holland approaching technology?
Our mission is to make farming easier, more efficient and more sustainable. With the acquisition of Raven, we are creating one complete division for precision technology and New Holland PLM. As for its application in North America, we will keep pushing to get the farmer the best technology possible. Also notable, through CNH Ventures, we’ve made acquisitions, for example with Augmenta. And we’ve acquired Hemisphere to have our own satellite connections.
What does it mean for New Holland to position itself as the Clean Energy Leader?
It’s in our DNA to be the Clean Energy Leader. We started the journey a long time ago in 2007, and we were the first to run with 20% biodiesel. Then we started an innovation project with NH2, a hydrogen-powered prototype. We are continuing our roadmap focusing on methane and biomethane. We just launched the T7 Methane Power LNG at Agritechnica. The limitations on the technologies so far have been on the infrastructure, rather than the products themselves. We are trying to give some vision for the infrastructure to support these products. And we continued our journey on sustainability with hybrid and electric. Two years ago, we partnered with Monarch, and we continue to collaborate with them jointly, together developing optimization on electric tractors. Today, we have two R&D centers: one in Detroit and one in Modena, Italy — the heart of the motor valley of Italy. The electric journey is starting, and with the launch of the T4 Electric Power, we plan to have around 100 units for next year. The plan with Gen 2 is to be something like Tesla where it’s all run by battery – both propulsion and transmission.
What does the future hold for New Holland?
I like to see the glass as half full. We are very serious about the theme of “sustaining the next generation.” You can expect to see more regionality – think globally but act locally. For example, we are doing more in the regions with universities and engaging the next generation. For us at CNH Industrial, one plus one equals more. The brands are well-positioned, and customers can expect excellence. Season after season, we will work to be closer to the customer.
