The Californian Monarch Tractor, a pioneer in self-driving and ‘smart’ electric tractors, is in dire straits. The company lays off almost all of its staff, puts its research site up for rent, and auctions off its assets. The Flemish taxpayer and a number of wealthy Belgian industrial families (Colruyt, Toye, Adriaenssen-de Spoelberch, Thermote) risk losing out.

The American tractor company produces fully electric, autonomous tractors that can plow, mow, spray, and detect diseases. To finance its growth, it raised a total of 240 million dollars (208 million euros), including from Belgian investors.

Disappointing results

However, sales figures were disappointing, and Monarch decided to stop manufacturing tractors and instead focus on developing and selling technology to other companies. “Demand for software is strong, and that for agricultural machinery is weakening,” said CEO Praveen Penmetsa at the time. 

But over the past few weeks, things have gone from bad to worse, and the American manufacturer’s activities have come to an almost complete standstill. According to American media, the company’s future is highly uncertain.

Financial hangover

Should Monarch go bankrupt, that will also have consequences for Belgium. After all, the company has attracted Flemish and Belgian capital and even wanted to build an assembly plant in Antwerp. Plans that had already been called off.

The Belgian fund Astanor Ventures, an investment fund affiliated with the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, as well as the Flemish public investor PMV and the Welvaartsfonds, put money on the table. Due to the situation at Monarch Tractor, those investments now risk evaporating completely.

According to the newspaper De Tijd, Flanders has reportedly invested 40 million euros in the American manufacturer of self-driving electric tractors, although those involved are not commenting on the recent developments in the Monarch case.