Perkins powers Latin American agriculture with local resources and global support.

Perkins engines have been powering Latin American agriculture for more than 60 years. That success is built on two foundations; durable, reliable, efficient engines; and a highly professional parts and service organisation dedicated to supporting them wherever and whenever they are used. Both are products of Perkins commitment to customer-focused problem solving and dedication to helping customers achieve their sustainability and lower-carbon goals as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Agrishow 2023

The results were on display in May at Agrishow 2023 in Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil where several major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) introduced new, Perkins powered products for the Latin American market. Appropriately enough, the theme of Agrishow 2023 was Connecting People and Technologies, which is another way of describing Perkins’ commitment to every market we serve.

All of the Perkins powered equipment introduced at Agrishow 2023 use engines from the popular Perkins^® 1100 Series range produced in Curitiba, Brazil. These engines meet MAR-1 emission standards, which are similar to the former Tier 3 and Stage IIIA standards, and deliver Perkins’ traditional productivity, reliability, low total cost of ownership and after-sale support.
 

MAR-1 challenges met

Availability of locally produced MAR-1 compliant engines virtually on the day the regulations went into effect allowed local Perkins customers to seamlessly manage the transition giving them a competitive advantage. It also provided international OEMs who used Perkins engines outside Latin America with an effective way to remain compliant in an important regional market.

Today, Perkins 1100 Series engines are rapidly becoming a de facto standard in Latin American agricultural markets in the 60 to 108 kW (75 to 145 hp) range. Customers include well-known brands like Mahindra, Landini, LS Tractor, Budny, Agrale, Agritech and many others.

Landini is an Italian brand with a global footprint that uses Perkins engines in a variety of different products outside Latin America. They initially entered the Latin American market with imported Perkins powered products but now produce them locally. Availability of Curitiba produced engines made it relatively easy for them to make the transition.

Mahindra, an Indian company and the world’s largest producer of tractors, entered the Brazilian market with a tractor manufactured in Turkey and powered by a Perkins engine that was also available as a Curitiba produced model. Today, Mahindra builds tractors for the Latin American market in a Brazilian facility and still equips them with Curitiba produced Perkins engines.

LS Tractor is a Korean company that uses five different Curitiba produced engines in their Latin American products.

Budny is a Brazilian company who depends on Curitiba built engines for many of its products sold in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America.

Availability of Perkins 1100 Series, MAR-1 compliant engines produced in Brazil was the reason Agritech and Agrale tractors are now Perkins powered even though their parent company also owns a producer of diesel engines.

These stories, and many others, all have something in common. It’s the fact that Perkins is a global supplier with an ability to deliver products and services tailored to the very different needs of local markets. Regardless of where they are built, Perkins engines all meet the same standards of manufacturing quality, using the same production technologies and meeting the same performance standards.
 

It’s not just about engines

There is another common thread found in virtually every Perkins success story. That’s the comprehensive, professional support organisation that extends from the factory to the end user location, wherever that may be. Perkins customer service and the Perkins authorised distributor network are there to make sure that every Perkins engine has access to genuine Perkins parts and trained technicians.

MD Power is the Perkins distributor for Brazil with responsibility for managing the national Perkins authorised dealer network. Similar arrangements are in place throughout Latin America, but that does not mean there is a Perkins authorised distributor or dealer in every single location where an engine might be used.

Perkins is, however, committed to customer support, so as the customer base expands, so does the support network.

LS Tractor, for example, has facilities in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, but there was no Perkins dealer in the Bolivian location when it opened. Perkins engines deserve Perkins service, so a Bolivian dealer has since been appointed.

Becoming a Perkins authorised dealer requires personnel training, acquisition of any specialised tools that may be required, parts stocking and a commitment to Perkins standards of service and support.

Another Brazilian customer began exporting their products to a location in Nigeria, again in an area without a Perkins dealer to support them. Nigeria is not in Latin America, but the customer’s local support team worked through the global Perkins support network to make sure a Perkins dealer was established to service those products.

With 88 distributors and over 3,500 outlets covering 185 countries, Perkins trained support is always close at hand to offer service, support and access to genuine Perkins parts. Additionally, programmes like Perkins^® Platinum Protection and Perkins^® Hypercare are actively helping customers lower their owning and operating costs, and maximising uptime.  
 

The bottom line is about people

Latin America, and Brazil in particular, are major global food producers and exporters. The more efficiently their agricultural sectors operate, the fewer hungry people there will be in the world. That need must be balanced against the long-term goals of a sustainable, lower-carbon future.

Perkins is dedicated to helping those producing food in Latin America, and everywhere else in the world, manage the energy transition to that future as quickly and painlessly as possible. New technology will be crucial and Perkins engineers are focused on developing next-generation solutions to power agriculture.

But, in the end, it will be people who make the difference. People who build the new power sources, people who keep them running and people who use them to feed the world. Perkins people are committed to be among them in Latin America and around the world.