CNH India reports a 42% rise in first-half tractor sales amid strong domestic demand and US export recovery, while preparing for a major capacity expansion to meet future growth.
CNH Industrial’s India business has reported a sharp rise in tractor sales in the first half of 2026, underscoring the strength of demand in its home market even after earlier disruption to exports caused by US tariffs. In an interview with PTI, Narinder Mittal, the head of CNH India, said domestic sales climbed to 30,248 units, up 42% from a year earlier, while exports rose about 20% to 6,666 units. He said the company had achieved its highest market share in India to date.
The performance comfortably outpaced the wider market. CNH said the domestic tractor industry expanded 25% in the first six months of the year, helped by a cut in goods and services tax and favourable monsoon conditions that lifted farm sentiment early in the year. Mittal warned, however, that weaker mood in the second half could temper industry-wide sales, even if full-year demand remains solid.
The company’s export business, which had been affected by higher US duties earlier in the year, has also recovered, according to Mittal. The United States makes up about 30% of CNH’s export mix, and shipments have resumed after the tariff strain eased. In February, Business Standard reported that CNH India was preparing to restart full-scale tractor exports to the US after a trade agreement lowered duties on Indian goods.
CNH is now pressing ahead with a major expansion in India. Mittal said the company has been allotted 100 acres near its existing Greater Noida plant for a fourth manufacturing facility, which is expected to begin operations in early 2028. The new site should roughly double annual tractor output in India to about 120,000 units from around 70,000 now. The company’s Greater Noida plant, which has operated since 1999, recently marked a milestone by rolling out its 800,000th tractor, according to a CNH statement.
Mittal said India remains central to CNH’s global strategy, not only as a sales market but also as a manufacturing and sourcing base. Alongside tractors sold domestically, the company exports components such as power take-offs and axles, and it is preparing to launch a new compact tractor in the 25-30 horsepower segment in the second half of 2028. He also pointed to low mechanisation in several farm segments, including sugarcane, biomass and cotton, as a long-term growth opportunity for the company and the wider industry.
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