DRIVING IMPRESSION: With its acquisition of Kverneland in 2012, Kubota made no secret of its intention to expand its activities in European agriculture. Not convinced? Well, take a look at its new 130 to 170hp M7001 series tractors, which will include the option of a continuously variable transmission. Could this be the beginning of a fresh assault?
A tractor brand’s livery may or may not be to your taste, but with its new M7001 Kubota has certainly come up with a sleek design with an appealingly curvy bonnet; incidentally, the four-post cab structure is the same as that fitted to the M135 GX. Less elegant are the huge rear fenders — now without rubber strips — that stretch out so far they look as if they could interfere with rear kit.
But rather than judge a book by its cover let’s delve and consider the basics. First up, the M7001 series was developed with the aid of renowned Austrian engineering company, AVL. This helped Kubota to debut the M7001 in a relatively short time, with production scheduled to start this spring at a new purpose-built plant at Dunkirk in northern France. Kubota is investing over €40million in European tractor production, with a plan to produce over 3,000 tractors a year by 2017.
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