NEW John Deere Australia / New Zealand Managing Director Luke Chandler will prioritize leading the way in technology and investing in strong relationships to continue to deliver value to the iconic company’s customers and dealers.
Originally from Inverell in NSW, Mr Chandler has a 25-year background in agriculture, most recently as Chief Economist for John Deere at its Illinois headquarters in the United States.
Mr Chandler said he was excited to have the opportunity to apply his global knowledge and John Deere’s leading-edge research and development capability to benefit Australian and New Zealand industries. Mr Chandler said:
“My work looking at global agriculture trends for many years has reinforced how competitive our farmers have to be in export markets without the government support many of our competitors receive. That competitiveness comes from Australian and New Zealand farmers being world leaders in innovation for as long as they’ve been farming.”
“John Deere has also had to keep changing to stay in business for more than 180 years, so we share their value on innovation and I’m looking forward to helping our farmers and distributors, wherever they are, continue to benefit from John Deere technology.”
Technology developments like AutoTrac steering and See and Spray precision chemical application allow farmers to do more with less from planting to harvesting, and have helped see John Deere ranked in the top 20 most innovative American companies. Mr Chandler said the best innovation flows from John Deere’s investment in relationships:
“Technology only works well when it’s solving real problems, and John Deere works incredibly hard to be a genuine partner of choice for customers and dealers in all the industries we operate in so we can understand their problems and build solutions for them.”
“My predecessor Peter Wanckel has done an excellent job building strong relationships, and I’m fortunate to be taking over with the business in such a strong position thanks to his vision and passion for the industry.”
“I’m really looking forward to meeting customers and dealers around Australia and New Zealand to get a better understanding of the problems we need to solve. I’m also very keen to partner with industry bodies and policymakers as agriculture looks to be more collaborative and cooperative in the future to drive change that’s profitable, productive and sustainable.”
Outgoing Managing Director Peter Wanckel said Mr Chandler brings enormous expertise to the role:
“Luke has worked in agriculture all over the world, and his broad experience in the industry at global leadership levels will bring benefits to Australian and New Zealand farmers. I’m very proud and privileged to have worked for a company like John Deere that has a great culture focused on people and serving customers.”
With a longstanding passion for the agricultural sector, Peter is looking forward to continuing his involvement in the agriculture industry in the future.
Mr Chandler will also aim to grow John Deere’s Construction and Forestry business in the region, which was established in the US in the 1940s to provide a greater scope of world-leading equipment and industry solutions to Australian and New Zealand customers.
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