Kubota has added yet another piece to the puzzle that positions it among the leading players in global agricultural robotics. The Japanese giant has indeed announced the signing of a new European framework agreement for the sale and distribution of the Kilter AX-1 robot, in which it had already invested millions of euros.
This new agreement will effectively allow the AX-1 agricultural robot to gradually enter new European markets, with the support of Kubota’s Smart Farming Solutions Department and local Kubota dealers.
Kubota and Kilter moving at a fast pace for the advancement of agricultural robotics
The agreement, signed by Kristoffer Magnor, Managing Director of Kilter, and Shinichi Yamada, President of Kubota Holdings Europe, comes at the end of a journey that has already seen the two entities working in close contact over recent years. The AX-1 is already in commercial use in Germany and the Netherlands.
Now the two companies are evaluating further markets, including France and the United Kingdom. Spare parts and service are available from the very beginning: Kilter spare parts are now available through Kubota’s European Parts Center in Thionville. Interested dealers will be able to order them through the same channel used for Kubota parts.
The AX-1 is an autonomous robot that identifies every single weed and treats it with tiny, targeted drops of herbicide. It is designed for high-value crops, such as vegetables and herbs, and reduces herbicide use by up to 95%. Kilter’s 66 AX-1 robots have already enabled growers to save over one million liters of herbicide, about one liter for every inhabitant of Cologne, Marseille, or Amsterdam. Backed by the Kubota network, this fleet is set to grow significantly in the coming years.
The comments
“The partnership with Kilter reflects our ambition to make innovative technologies that solve our customers’ pain points more accessible across Europe. Our ‘Smart Farming, sized right’ strategy fits perfectly into this context. This framework agreement gives us a solid foundation to expand the collaboration market by market and support a broader adoption of ultra-precise and sustainable weeding solutions,” says Andreas Kaczmarczyk, Vice President Marketing – Tractor Business Unit Europe.
“Growers need more than just a great machine. They need a dealer nearby and spare parts they can count on, and that is precisely what Kubota provides,” says Kristoffer Magnor, Managing Director of Kilter. “We started with Kubota in two countries. This agreement allows us to bring the AX-1 to growers all over Europe, one market at a time.”
