SDF opens new subsidiary in South Africa

Tabakhuis Street, Paarl, Western Cape Province, South Africa on Monday 18th May 2026.

SDF is pleased to announce today the official opening of its commercial subsidiary in South Africa. Located in Paarl, Western Cape Province within the Winelands of Cape Town, this new office marks an important step in strengthening SDF’s presence in South Africa.

 “The opening of SDF South Africa commercial subsidiary marks a significant milestone for SDF.” said Mr. Lodovico Bussolati, CEO of SDF “This is our second subsidiary in the Sub-Saharan region and demonstrates the unconditional commitment to our growth path in Africa, as well as our dedication to being an integral part of South Africa’s agricultural development. It reflects our desire to build unbreakable, sustainable, and long-lasting partnerships allowing us to reinforce our position, as one of the top global OEMs that is truly invested in the significant future of South Africa’s agricultural sector.”

SDF South Africa (Pty) Ltd, opens this commercial subsidiary with the objective of developing its resources to support local partners and ensuring a sustainable development of its brands for decades to come. This commitment demonstrates that SDF intends to continue developing African markets in line with its strategy of maintaining a local presence to enhance proximity to the end customer. By being closer to the market, SDF aims to strengthen the partnerships established and to build a deeper knowledge of its product range.

The Paarl office will be managing commercially all brands in South Africa, Deutz-Fahr, SAME and Gregoire (from harvesters to sprayers) through the existing partnerships with South African importers.

For the first time, in South Africa, alongside the opening of SDF South Africa (Pty) Ltd’s commercial branch offices, the full Deutz-Fahr and SAME product ranges are available to all local farmers through the existing partners and their respective dealer network. This structure responds to the diverse needs of South African farmers, offering tailored power solutions that match varying crop and livestock value chains, different soil conditions, and stages of mechanization, from broad acre to specialized orchard machinery.

The opening of SDF subsidiary in Paarl, represents a global commitment to orchard value chains, strategically located near the renown areas of Winelands, the Orchards to the East, Citrus to the North and all within the Cape area. This area has seen a significant growth in the mechanization of orchard crops over the past decades, providing the environment for SDF to continue anchoring its orchard farming technology range developed since 1927.

“We are really proud to have reached this stage of SDF’s development in Africa, which sets a significant achievement in strengthening our presence in the largest tractor market in Africa”, commented Mr. Alessandro Maritano, Chief Commercial Officer of SDF.

Further to this Alexandre Duffar, Regional Business General Manager for Sub Saharan Africa, added “Our local presence enables us to deliver tailored solutions that address global diversification challenges. It also allows us to execute national distribution strategies with our import partners ensuring a unique approach in doing business in this market”.

The set commitment targets through SDF South Africa, will:

- Increase the adoption of mechanization and enhance productivity for farming customers;

- Allow us to remain closer to customers by strengthening the local presence;

- Ensure performance, productivity and customer service excellence for all its brands;

- Support importers in developing strategies that allow dealers to grow, evolve and better serve farming customers;

- Ensure SDF’s brands grow through and with its importers’ distribution network base with an enhanced focus on customer centricity;

- Provide a long-term commitment to affordability of the agricultural machinery, ensuring excellent quality with optimal cost of ownership for the full product range.

- Provide products through our import partners and their dealers, in South Africa.

SDF is an Italian multinational company based in Treviglio (Bergamo, Italy), among the world leaders in the production of tractors, autonomous electric tractors and diesel engines.

SDF has contributed significantly to the mechanization of the agricultural sector, leading a successful international expansion path and being a driver of the digital transformation of agriculture. In February 2025 opened the first OEM presence in Africa in Tanzania establishing the first Sub-Saharan Africa Commercial Subsidiary with a purpose to deepen its support to its partners and farmers on the African continent, which has resulted in this important milestone in South Africa.

Today SDF produces "smart tractors" designed for increasing operational efficiency and productivity.

SDF will continue through its commercial subsidiaries in Africa to increasingly support agricultural productivity and therefore by consequence enhance the crop export potential across the region, with its unique presence in mechanization as an OEM.