A notable newcomer at this year’s Equip Expo was Yakta, a zero-turn mower manufacturer operating out of Woodlands, Man. The company will be entering the market with 5 models: the YXR 310/510/710/910 and the stand-on YXS 710.
Rural Lifestyle Dealer sat down with Yakta CEO Andrew Firth to discuss Yakta’s history and its entry into the market.
Why Now?
Firth gives a couple reasons for why the stage is set for Yakta to enter North America. Two that stand out are the consolidation in the industry and changing attitudes in a post-COVID market.
“Now is a good time for Yakta to come to North America, for a variety of reasons,” says Firth. “No. 1, there's been a lot of consolidation in the industry. Yes, they’re keeping the same brand, but the culture from other companies is flowing through, and dealers are getting frustrated with the service levels. They’re getting frustrated with how they’re being taken care of. They’re getting frustrated with how warranties are being dealt with. They’re getting frustrated with being told what products they have to take.
“Now is also a good opportunity because the OEM, the suppliers, the engines, the people are very receptive to product development and working with us to get the product right, whereas during COVID, maybe not so much because they were so busy.”
Yakta sees a need in the market for its product, says Firth, based on conversations with dealers, where they’ve identified pain points in the industry they can address. He sees an opportunity to move in where larger OEMs, in his opinion, have dropped the ball with their dealers.
“The reason these new people like Yakta have started is because they saw a need,” he says. “They saw all the pain points. We were talking to dealers on the Arrowquip side and they were saying, ‘You need to get into this space, because we're having this issue and this issue and this issue and people aren't standing behind us.’
“That's why we got into the space because some of the big corporations haven’t treated their dealers right. They’ve created pain points, and they’re probably losing market share right now because of these new people coming in. Well, that’s the way it should be. It’s a free market, and it keeps people accountable.”
Australia Origins
Yakta traces its roots back 30 years to Australia. Firth’s father founded livestock equipment manufacturer Arrowquip in 1988 on the family ranch in Tamworth, Australia. Arrowquip has manufacturing plants in Australia andCanada currently and is planning one for Tennessee. The company has 350 employees globally.
The idea for Yakta came when Arrowquip decided it needed to build its portfolio and eventually landed on zero-turn mowers. Therefore, Yakta is new to the market, but not new to manufacturing, says Firth.
“We've been in manufacturing since the late 80s, and we’re not new to service and how to take care of dealers to ensure that end users are taken care of,” Firth says. “Good dealers, happy end users. We’re very, very good in that space and our ag space, and we're just bringing that across.”
Dealer Development
The company is aiming for 100 dealers at the end of 2023 and 250 by the end of 2024. Firth says that while they have 280 Arrowquip dealers, they’re making sure dealers that also carry Yakta are the right fit.
"Even though we have 280 Arrowquip dealers, we’re going through and making sure that who we bring on as Yakta dealers are able to support the customers,” says Firth. “There’s some Arrowquip dealers coming over, but that’s based on who we pick. Most are new power equipment dealers that we haven't dealt with before.”
When asked what dealers’ top challenges could be next year, Firth points to maintaining talent and keeping up with pay increases.
“The opportunity there is to make sure our product's easy to service,” says Firth. “We're standing behind them, we're doing more work on their behalf. We're not wasting their time. Their customers aren't having to bring it back 90 days later, because they've got an issue with it.”
