Who Owns Kioti Tractors?

Kioti's roots are Daedong's roots. Daedong was founded in 1947 in Jinju, South Korea, began producing motors in 1949, and moved into power tillers, tractors, and combines as Korean agriculture mechanized. The company opened its Daegu factory in 1984 and started exporting Daedong tractors to the United States in 1985.

The first Kioti-badged compact tractor arrived in the US in 1986 under a partnership with Lely, the Dutch farm equipment firm. Daedong-USA was founded in 1993, acquiring the Kioti brand outright, and established its first base in Wilson, North Carolina. In 2004, as volume grew, Kioti built a new North American headquarters on more than 13 acres in Wendell, North Carolina, which remains its US home.

Product milestones marked the expansion: the DK45 launched the DK series, the MECHRON 2200 added utility vehicles in the late 2000s, the RX series arrived in 2011, and the DK10 and NX series extended the lineup in 2014. Kioti earned NAEDA Gold Level Status for dealer satisfaction in 2015, and by 2018 it became the first Korean agricultural machinery brand to sell more than 10,000 units in a year in the United States.

Today the range covers six or more tractor series, three MECHRON UTV models, zero-turn mowers, and a full complement of implements. Its parent continues to invest in autonomous driving, electrification, and connected machine platforms.