News: Lawn and Garden

2020-10-23

Robotic Lawn Mower Industry Expected To Reach $1.3 Billion in 2020

There’s nothing like the look and smell of freshly cut grass, but for an increasing number, mowing the lawn as become an unpleasant experience and a waste of time. Some home owners spend hours every week doing the work while others are investing in a robot lawn mower to do the work.

A robotic lawn mower is an autonomous robot used to cut lawn grass. A typical robotic lawn mower (in particular earlier generation models) requires the user to set up a border wire around the lawn that defines the area to be mowed. The robot uses this wire to locate the boundary of the area to be trimmed and in some cases to locate a recharging dock. Robotic mowers are capable of maintaining up to 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) of grass.

Think of robot lawn mowers as Roombas, but for lawns.

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2020-08-23

Briggs & Stratton Files Chapter 11, Sets Sale Agreement

Briggs & Stratton (B&S) one of the  largest producers of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment, and a manufacturer of power generation, pressure washer, lawn and garden, turf care and job site products, has filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

Michael Aistrup
Michael Aistrup

The company has obtained $677.5 million in financing, with $265 million committed by KPS and the remaining $412.5 from the company’s existing group of lenders.

B&S also announced it has entered into a definitive stock and asset purchase agreement with KPS Capital Partners. Under the terms of the agreement, an affiliate of KPS formed for purposes of this transaction has agreed to acquire substantially all the company’s assets and assume certain customer, employee and vendor liabilities.

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2020-07-26

DataPoint. NA Tillers 2020 Forecast: 261,100 Units

The 261,100 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of tillers to be produced in North America (Mexico and the U.S.) in 2020.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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2020-06-13

DATAPOINT: US Lawn & Garden Tractors, 2020 Forecast: 681,500 Units

681,500 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Lawn & Garden Tractors to be produced in the United States in 2020.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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2020-03-22

2020 NA Utility Vehicle Production: 436,700

This article first appeared in the March 2020 issue of PowerTALK™ News

This is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Utility Vehicles to be produced in North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States) in 2020.

DataPoint

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

Market Share: With combined plant totals of 32%, Polaris leads in production of utility vehicles in North America. Polaris has plants in Mexico and the US. In second position is Honda with 13%, followed by Deere with 12%.

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2020-02-25

We Expect 2020 NA Overall OEM Production To Be Flat

This article initially appeared in the February 2020 issue of PowerTALK News.

SUMMARY.  The North American economy remained stable in 2019 and pure economic conditions as well as fundamentals in the region were favorable. Most industries performed very well, and the short-term outlook remains stable to flat for most market segments. However, we see many new developments that could suggest a shift in the trend.

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

Consumer confidence declined slightly in December, following a moderate increase in November.  The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index stood at 126.5 in December, 1.4 points higher than in September 2019. 

Per Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “While consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved, their expectations declined, driven primarily by a softening in their short-term outlook regarding jobs and financial prospects. While the economy hasn’t shown signs of further weakening, there is little to suggest that growth, and in particular consumer spending, will gain momentum in early 2020.”

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2019-11-14

2019 GIE+Expo Posts Strong Growth. Battery Technology Continues Hot

GIE+EXPO: The Green Industry & Equipment Expo

GIE+EXPO is the annual gathering for all segments of the outdoor power equipment and lawn and landscape industry. The event is sponsored by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, the Professional Grounds Management Society and the National Association of Landscape Professionals.

This year, the show drew more than 26,500 people from around the world. The indoor exhibit floor and the Outdoor Demonstration Area covered 24,000 net sq. ft. more than last year.

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