Another Kubota machine is rolling off an American assembly line, but the bigger story is what the company is building around it.

Kubota North America has begun assembling its SVL75-3 compact track loader at Great Plains Manufacturing in Salina, Kansas. The machine joins the smaller SVL65-2 on the same mixed-model production line, adding U.S. capacity for what Kubota says is the best-selling compact track loader in the country.

The move is part of a much larger investment in Salina. Kubota has committed more than $300 million to construction-equipment infrastructure there in recent years, expanding not only manufacturing but also engineering, research and testing. The result is a growing North American hub built around one of the world’s largest markets for compact construction equipment.

From One Track Loader to a Manufacturing Hub

Kubota’s presence in Salina grew substantially after it acquired Great Plains Manufacturing in 2016. Four years later, the company purchased a 750,000-square-foot factory as demand for compact equipment increased and eventually began producing the SVL65 compact track loader there, moving production of the machine from Japan to Kansas.

The SVL75-3 is now joining that operation. Rather than creating a separate line, Kubota will build the SVL65-2 and SVL75-3 together using a mixed-model system, giving the company flexibility to adjust production as demand changes. Components will continue to be globally sourced, so the expansion represents U.S. assembly rather than a completely domestic supply chain.

“Our expansion here in the Midwest is about better serving our dealers and customers across the country,” Kubota North America President Todd Stucke said, adding that producing more of the company’s compact track loaders in Kansas should help Kubota respond to demand “faster and more efficiently.”

That demand has helped Kubota become a major player well beyond the compact tractors many farmers associate with the orange brand. According to equipment finance data cited by Equipment World, Kubota ranked second in new financed construction-equipment sales in the United States in 2025, with more than 30,000 units sold.

Kubota Is Moving Engineering Here Too

Manufacturing is only part of Kubota’s investment in Kansas. The company established Construction Equipment Research and Development North America in Salina in 2021, putting engineering, testing and validation closer to its North American customers. Earlier this year, Kubota broke ground on a $30 million, 57,000-square-foot construction-equipment test center that will expand those capabilities further.

The facility will allow engineers to conduct performance, durability and reliability testing under controlled conditions designed to reproduce the work machines encounter in the field. Kubota says the center should help accelerate product development while allowing equipment to be tested specifically for North American applications.

That makes the Salina expansion more significant than simply adding another assembly line. Kubota is putting more of the process behind its North American construction equipment in one place, from engineering and development to testing and production.

A Broader Shift Toward American Production

Kubota isn’t alone in expanding U.S. production. Volvo Construction Equipment recently said more than half of the machines it supplies to North America are now produced at its Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, plant after adding 11 excavator and larger wheel-loader models there. Komatsu has also highlighted billions of dollars in North American manufacturing investment and continues to build thousands of machines annually at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, operation.

Manufacturing closer to customers can shorten transportation distances and lead times, give manufacturers more flexibility as demand changes and reduce some of the risks associated with long international supply chains. For Kubota, it also reflects the importance of a North American market the company describes as the world’s largest for compact construction equipment.

The first Kansas-built SVL75-3 is a visible milestone, but Salina is increasingly about much more than one machine. Kubota has steadily added manufacturing, engineering, R&D and testing capabilities there, creating a larger U.S. base for its growing construction-equipment business.

For a company still closely associated with its Japanese roots, more of the Kubota equipment sold to American customers is now being assembled, developed and tested much closer to the people who will actually put it to work.