New Deere boss at the helm

John Deere Australia and New Zealand’s new managing director, Luke Chandler, has laid out his priorities for the local market, which is to lead the way in tech and customer relationships.

Originally from Inverell, NSW, Chandler has a 25-year background in agriculture and was most recently Chief Economist for John Deere in the United States before his most recent appointment.

He will take over from outgoing Managing Director, Peter Wanckel.

Chandler said he is excited to have the opportunity to apply his global knowledge and John Deere’s leading-edge research and development capability to benefit Australian and New Zealand industries.

“My work looking at global agriculture trends for many years has reinforced how competitive our farmers have to be in export markets without the government support many of our competitors receive,” Chandler said.

“That competitiveness comes from Australian and New Zealand farmers being world leaders in innovation for as long as they’ve been farming.

“John Deere has also had to keep changing to stay in business for more than 180 years, so we share their value on innovation and I’m looking forward to helping our farmers and distributors, wherever they are, continue to benefit from John Deere technology.”

Chandler said the best innovation flows from the company’s investment in customer relationships.

“Technology only works well when it’s solving real problems, and John Deere works incredibly hard to be a genuine partner of choice for customers and dealers in all the industries we operate in so we can understand their problems and build solutions for them,” he said.

“My predecessor, Peter Wanckel, has done an excellent job building strong relationships, and I’m fortunate to be taking over with the business in such a strong position thanks to his vision and passion for the industry.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting customers and dealers around Australia and New Zealand to get a better understanding of the problems we need to solve. I’m also very keen to partner with industry bodies and policy makers as agriculture looks to be more collaborative and cooperative in the future to drive change that’s profitable, productive and sustainable.”

Chandler added he also aims to grow John Deere’s Construction and Forestry business in the region.

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Outgoing MD, Peter Wanckel, said Chandler’s broad experience in the industry at global leadership levels will bring benefits to Australian and New Zealand farmers.

“I’m very proud and privileged to have worked for a company like John Deere that has a great culture focused on people and serving customers," he said.

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