CNH Industrial The Power of Integration in Agriculture and Construction
“Scaling is not just about selling more machines—it is about owning more of the ecosystem around them.”
CNH Industrial may not carry the same brand recognition as Caterpillar or John Deere, but with $23.1 billion in revenue in 2024, it is one of the world’s largest equipment manufacturers. Operating through its Case and New Holland brands, CNH focuses on agriculture and construction, positioning itself as a global integrator rather than just a hardware maker. Its strategy blends vertical integration, financial services, and M&A to create a full-service ecosystem—making CNH a critical player in food security, infrastructure, and global logistics.
Revenue and Global Position
In 2024, CNH Industrial reported $23.1 billion in consolidated revenue, with about 70 percent of sales coming from agriculture and the rest from construction equipment and services. Its global market share in agriculture equipment sits around 15 percent, putting it in direct competition with Deere, AGCO, and Kubota. While its EBITDA margin trails Deere’s double-digit levels, CNH has steadily grown profitability through restructuring efforts, divestitures, and efficiency programs. The company targets mid-single-digit CAGR growth through 2030, largely driven by demand in emerging markets where food security and mechanization remain priorities.
The VErtical Integration Playbook
Where Deere emphasizes telematics and Caterpillar leans on its dealer moat, CNH leans heavily into vertical integration. Its CNH Industrial Capital division provides farmers and contractors with financing, leasing, and insurance products. This keeps customers locked into its ecosystem, ensuring repeat purchases and service loyalty. Additionally, CNH bundles its machinery with aftermarket parts and service packages, capturing recurring revenue and reducing churn to competitors.
The company has also pursued M&A as a growth lever. In 2023 and 2024, CNH acquired precision ag companies to strengthen its digital capabilities, aiming to replicate Deere’s advantage in telematics and connected equipment. Its partnerships with software providers extend into predictive maintenance, field productivity, and automation—helping customers offset labor shortages in both agriculture and construction.
Sector Exposure Agriculture and Construction
CNH’s core strength is its agricultural machinery portfolio, which includes tractors, combines, and harvesters under the Case IH and New Holland brands. Agriculture represents one of the most resilient end-markets, with global demand driven by population growth and rising protein consumption. In construction, CNH plays a smaller but strategic role, focusing on loaders, dozers, and backhoes. Although cyclical, construction is key to infrastructure growth in developing markets, giving CNH exposure to multi-billion-dollar government investment programs worldwide.
The dual exposure across agriculture and construction provides resilience. When construction cycles soften—as seen during COVID-19—agriculture demand often remains stable. This diversification helped CNH weather the pandemic and inflation shocks of 2020–2022 better than single-sector peers.
The Moat Customer Lock-In Through Services
Unlike Caterpillar’s dealer network or Deere’s data ecosystem, CNH’s moat is its bundling strategy. By combining equipment sales with financing, insurance, leasing, and aftermarket support, CNH creates customer stickiness that rivals are forced to match. A farmer who finances a fleet of Case IH tractors through CNH Capital is far more likely to continue purchasing parts and service from CNH over the machine’s lifecycle.
Margins on financial products and aftermarket sales often exceed those of machinery itself. In 2024, aftermarket and financial services represented an estimated 25 percent of CNH’s operating profit, proving the importance of this lock-in strategy.
Leadership and Strategy
CEO Scott Wine, who took over in 2021, has emphasized portfolio simplification and margin expansion. Under his leadership, CNH spun off its on-highway commercial vehicle division, Iveco, in 2022, sharpening its focus on agriculture and construction. Wine’s strategy prioritizes profitability, R&D investment in automation, and disciplined capital allocation to sustain shareholder returns while building technological capabilities.
Final Thoughts
CNH Industrial is a study in integration. While Deere dominates with data and Caterpillar with dealer networks, CNH proves that bundling hardware, services, and financing can be just as powerful a moat. Its exposure to agriculture provides resilience against downturns, while construction equipment ensures relevance in global infrastructure.
For supply chain leaders, CNH offers a key lesson: resilience comes from owning multiple layers of the value chain. In a world where volatility in labor, trade, and capital costs can derail growth, companies that integrate financing, services, and technology into their ecosystems will scale more sustainably than those relying solely on asset sales.
