Escorts group

The Escorts group is one of the highly diversified engineering conglomerates located in Faridabad, Haryana, India.

Tractors

Escorts manufactures a wide range of tractors, automotive components, railway equipment and construction & material handling equipment. The group have several business units that manufacture a wide range of tractors under the brand names "Escort", "Farmtrac" and "Powertrac". The current range involves over 45 models ranging from 25HP to 80HP. The tractor division was started in 1960 with the first Escort tractors produced in 1965. In 1969, a partnership with Ford was set up to produce licensed Ford tractors for India. [http://escortsagri.com/company/company_overview.html] Ford became New Holland, which is currently part of CNH Global, which in turn is owned by the Fiat Group.

Escorts has production locations in Mrągowo, Poland that was purchased from Pol-Mot in 2000, [http://www.farmtrac.com.pl/en_ofirmie.php] and in India. There was an assembly plant in Tarboro, North Carolina which was purchased from Long Agri, but the North American subsidiary went into receivership in 2008. [http://www.tractordata.com/news/2008/02/farmtrac-troubles.html] Customers, dealers and creditors are still trying to work through the North American troubles. [http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/all-other-brands/114183-farmtrac-troubles.html]

A new assembly plant was set up in 2008 in Ghana to assemble 2500 tractors a year. [http://escortsagri.com/images/newsroom/ghana_assy_line_stone_laying_ceremony_2308082.pdf]

Escorts tractors are exported around the world to about 41 countries. [http://escortsagri.com/company/company_overview.html] In the USA, tractors built by Escorts were imported from India and Poland, and from LS Tractors in South Korea, all sold under the Farmtrac brand name.

They also manufacture a diverse range of equipment like cranes, loaders, vibratory rollers and forklifts.

Construction Equipment

Escorts Construction Equipment Limited (ECEL) was established in 1970 as the "Yellow Line"'. With partners such as Doosan, Altec, Fassi, Hamm, Huata and IHI, ECEL builds fork-lifts, cranes, backhoes, and excavators, to name a few. [http://www.ecel.com/history111.htm]

Railway Equipment

Escorts builds couplers, shock absorbers, brake systems and brake blocks for Indian Railways.

Motorcycles

The motorcycle division of Escorts group used to manufacture Polish WFM (Warszawska Fabryka Motocyklowa) motorcycles under the brand name Rajdoot from the late 1950s. It was a remake of the German DKW(Dampf Kraft Wagen) RT 125 with an enlarged 175cc engine.

In the early 80s, they started making Yamaha motorcycles in India. Rajdoot 350 and Yamaha RX 100 were known for their performance in India. The motorcycle manufacturing unit in Faridabad, India was sold to Yamaha Motor in the late 1990s when Escorts decided to quit the motorcycle business to concentrate on Tractors and auto components.

ee also

*Ashok Leyland
*Tata Group

References

External links

* [http://www.escortsgroup.com/ Official Site of Escorts Group]
* [http://www.escortsagri.com/ Escorts Agri]
* [http://www.farmtrac.com.pl/ Farmtrac Europe]
* [http://www.ecel.com/ Escorts Construction Equipment]