AGCO launches subscription models amid technological growth

Agriculture equipment and technology manufacturer AGCO is looking to expand its portfolio with new non-traditional pricing models. 

Duluth, Ga.-based AGCO aims to compete with fellow farm equipment manufacturers like John Deere and Bayer with technologies and payment models that fit farmers needs, AGCO Chairman, President and Chief Executive Eric Hansotia said this week during the 2025 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. 

“People want to experiment with how that may fit for them financially, so we offer a couple different [autonomous] models that they can return, that they can buy the hardware, and then they can pay for, essentially, an ongoing subscription in a few different ways,” he said.  

Customers can buy a “bundle” or an “unlimited batch” that allows them to use the autonomous vehicle on an hourly rate basis to determine if it works for them, Hansotia said. 

AGCO already has one subscription-based tool through its precision planting division named Panorama, which helps farmers using AGCO-software equipped products track usage data, Hansotia said. 

“That’s a data management tool that helps farmers take their data off any [piece of machinery] whether it’s the sprayer or the planter planting machine, and manage where that goes and how it’s optimized,” he said. “It’s a big part of our business, and we see that being more and more of a subscription-based type tool.” 

AGCO reported $11.7 billion in net sales last year, which included the company’s machinery business and its growing technology business, Hansotia said. 

“The majority of that tech business is selling on competitive lines of equipment because essentially … we want to serve all farmers, regardless of what they purchased in the past,” he said.  

AGCO wants to grow its operating margin to 14% to 15% by 2029, Hansotia said. The company’s full year adjusted operating margin landed at 8.9% in 2024, according to the company’s Feb. 6 earnings presentation. 

As part of its growth aspirations, the company expects technology sales to reach $2 billion by 2029,  Hansotia said.  In 2024, technology sales totaled $0.8 billion, according to the company’s earnings presentation. 

In addition to autonomous and data management tools, AGCO looks to add remote unlocking subscriptions to its portfolio to meet its sales goals. 

“As we have more and more software features on the machine, we can do remote unlocks of a new feature, so it’s the software sitting on the machine,” he said. “Remote unlocks and data platform are two of the big non-traditional pricing models.” 

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