in power

Annually at Equip Expo, I sit down with the leaders of Husqvarna for a wide-open discussion about the OPE world today. Last year, that chat included Andreas Rangert who was then president of the North American Business Unit, and Gent Simmons who was head of product development.

This year, my conversation included Mr. Simmons again, in his new role as North American president, along with Juan Rodriguez, Husqvarna’s vice president of research and development. Together, these two have nearly 50 years of experience with Husqvarna.

We talked about Simmons’ leadership plans, as well as robotics, the American economy, and what they had seen so far at Equip Expo – we spoke on Thursday afternoon of the show. Here is the transcript of that conversation, lightly edited.

In Power

What are your plans for Husqvarna, Gent Simmons, now that you’re in the leadership role for North America?

Gent Simmons, president N. American business unit

Last year you talked to Andreas Rangert who was our president for a couple years here in North America. He came over for a two-year stint and it was kind of designed to be that way. An expat assignment for him, but home for him is always going to be Sweden. Just like when I was working in Sweden. I had spent 10 years in Sweden, but my home is always America. So the time was right. I had handheld and wheeled R&D globally. It’s time for me to come home. It’s time for him to go home. He took over handhelds, R&D. I took over the leadership in North America. I look at it like a nice trade.

He did some great stuff here, as we discussed a little bit last year. He did a fantastic job stabilizing the business and giving me a great foundation to build on. And now I see my job as one to accelerate this business.

In Power

So when you say that Rangert stabilized things, and you can now focus on growth, what in particular has been stabilized and is a platform from which you can grow Husqvarna?

Simmons

The number one by far most important thing for me and important for Andreas, too, to stabilize, was our reliable parts supply, and the support to all of our channel partners, but especially our dealers. A couple years ago, we had a serious breakdown with our parts supply out of our warehouse in Blythewood, South Carolina. It’s no secret, Glenn, and I think you even asked about it last year. That issue has been truly stabilized. We’ve been hearing it here as well that things are going the right way. But I think there’s a lot further we can go to be world class. We are doing the job. We are taking care of our customers. But I intend to take this to a world-class level, for spare part supplies, support, and being a reliable partner to our dealers. That is my number one, 2 and 3 objective.

What is the State of Red Max?

In Power

Red Max, as we talked about it last year amidst some rumors. It was not going anywhere last year, you said. It’s still not going anywhere and it’s going well?

Juan Rodriguez, VP of R&D

We’re growing it. We’re actually launching some new trimmers. We’re adding a 35cc trimmer to our lineup. We’ve been having people coming up and looking at Red Max. It’s an investment we haven’t had in quite a while. What’s the state of Red Max, it’s good and it’s growing. We’re launching products early in Q1 and some in Q2. They’re being very well received at the moment, for everything they’re hearing at the show.

But on top of Red Max, from our landscaper standpoint, the other thing we’re launching is a robot that’s made for landscaping and facilities management. The Automower 560 covers 1.5 acres in 24 hours. It can handle 50% grade. It also has vision for this year. That’s the big add-on. And it’s enabled with AI, so it’s able to maintain the productivity. It knows what some of the objects are, so it knows if it can cut right up to them, cut through them like a dandelion versus some other block. It’s able to understand surroundings to maintain the productivity.

The Future of Robots for Husqvarna and America?

In Power

I have learned an immense amount about these devices, these technology products and service providers. It’s not a lawnmower, to me, and it needs support. Right? How do you support somebody who buys an Automower? Because people can buy them online, right?

Rodriguez

You can. One of the best ways we can support is to make it easier to install. We reduced the install time and the install number of steps by 50%. You can go from box to install in 15 minutes. On top of that, they also have vision with the same AI enablement. And we’ve been able to make them more affordable. We were at the top end of the price points with our 440s (MSRP of $4,000). Now with the 305s we’re at $1,199. We’re able to open up the market. From a dealer’s standpoint, we’re able to bring more customers into this new technology. The support is less because they’re easier to install. A lot of people with the boundary-wire mowers were complaining about how hard they were to install, and having somebody come out there repetitively. These are very easy to install by yourself.

But we have a full team under our VP of aftermarket, who has very knowledgeable people who know about the product, and are able to talk to dealer through any issues they might have, and even a homeowner.

In Power

Issues will happen with these robots. And the homeowner does what? He can call his or her dealer if they bought it there, but if he bought it online, what happens?

Rodriguez

You still call our 1 800 number. But I put one of our new ones in this summer and I’ve had no issues with it. The install process is very good, and again, no issues whatsoever.

Simmons

We pull out all the stops to make sure our customers are going to be taking care of. There are things that we are looking at for the coming years. on how we can actually improve the support. Going back to what I said before, my number one, two, and three objectives. It is supporting, taking care of, and being a reliable supplier to our channel partners, our customers, especially our dealers.

That includes the robotic side. There are things we are looking into right now on how we can get even more focus and support for that robotics business. We’re going to put the infrastructure in place to really support that business, just like we’re going to support the traditional business that I was talking about. For robotic mowers, it’s just a matter of time. Is it going to be next year? Is it going to be 2030 when the market just breaks free? Not sure, but we’re going to be ready for it.

In Power

I hope the entire market will be successful. When I say “hope,” I’m thinking there are a lot of companies that might not support users well. And that could really do bad things to the whole name of robotic mowers.

Simmons

I agree with that 100%. So the best thing that we can do as the leader, and we are the global leader in robotic mowing technology, is to lead the pack and lead the way. That is one of my intentions, to implement some changes and how we are focused on that space, to bring an even higher level of support and service. We actually do a good job today. It’s not like there’s something broken that we need to fix it. But I think we need to get ready for that day. When it really breaks free. And we don’t have that bad experience that you’re talking about. I see it as our job to lead the way there.

How are you dealing with global economic issues?

In Power

Let’s talk about the economy in America. What’s going on? War has impacts, tariffs have been impacting business for a while. Manufacturing input costs. Transportation. How are you dealing with all that? And are your dealers feeling pressure, and pricing increases? Talk about the economy.

Simmons

Well, absolutely, the pressure is there. We’re hearing it from everywhere. And we also know that it has an even bigger impact in a lot of cases on our dealers and our customers. I mean, getting down to the fuel pricing, the landscapers are feeling the fuel costs every day. Getting a business loan is harder every day. On our side, having to deal with rising transport costs. We also have to deal with a shortage of containers coming in from overseas. The list could go on. But we have teams of people that pay attention to it every day. We’ve got contingency plans that are put into place.

The end story here is that I’m actually quite proud of what we were able to accomplish, even though we’ve had those issues to deal with. We are on our third quarter in a row of growth in a market that is flattish to downish.

In Power

Is that American growth?

Simmons

Yes, I’m talking about Husqvarna North America. Canada and the United States. Third quarter in a row of growth, in spite of all the challenges in front of us. What that tells me is that we’re doing a damn good job mitigating a lot of those risks. Our customers and channel partners are rewarding us for that. It is quite clear that we are taking some market share. And that’s a good story for Husqvarna to be telling after some of the challenges.

You can read Husqvarna’s Q3 financial report here.

Where is Husqvarna taking marketshare?

In Power

Taking marketshare in which specific segments. Chainsaws? Is it robots? Other handhelds?

Rodriguez

Chainsaws and trimmers. Yes, we’re proud of that. Some of the products we have here will continue to help us grow that share. Our 564 chainsaw has a 60cc engine that acts as nimble as a 50cc engine but has the power of a 70cc engine. Fuel injection and all the things that really helped our partners, our customers utilize it. We continue to want to grow and take share, we continue to invest in petrol. You know, we’re launching also new battery chainsaws, the 440i and the 550i. People have been cutting with them at our display outside.

Simmons

One of the things I’d like to add that’s relevant for right now, when we talk about pressure in the industry, the pressure is also on suppliers. And we have recently, and I think you probably reported on this, we had a recent crisis with the First Brands group collapse. The supplier that bought Walbro. We are dedicated to making sure this industry is advancing and going the right way. Sometimes we have to step in given that we’re leaders of this industry, to help move it along. And when First Brands group collapsed, we were very much involved with supporting and finding a good buyer for the Walbro brand in North America. And Active Dynamics has had acquired the North American side.

We stepped in and acquired the Asian assets. Recently, actually as of two days ago, we did announce that we have now signed a Letter Of Intent to transfer that acquisition to Active Dynamics, so that now Walbro is under one good leader again in Active dynamics.

So sometimes there’s a lot of pressure out there, a lot of stress out there, and sometimes companies like us also have to step up to help out some of the smaller companies or the suppliers when things are off the rails. I’m actually quite proud of our company for doing it. It was a big supplier for us. Carburetors are important for two stroke engines. But also just for the industry. A number of companies were reliant on that company.

What are you hearing at Equip Expo?

In Power

How is the show this year? What are attendees asking you about?

Rodriguez

I’ve had a lot of people come in and congratulate us on the 564 chainsaw that we mentioned earlier. We also get a good input on our 450X chainsaw, which has auto tune and was introduced last year. A lot of good feedback there.

Simmons

As far as what they’re asking us, I would say maybe the bigger story for us is what they’re not asking us. They’re not asking us about fixing problems. We have a number of our issues. But the trend is positive. The comments are very good. Small things come up for us to fix here and there. We take those just as seriously as big things. But maybe for me, it’s what they’re not asking, and they’re not asking for big resolutions. We’re trending the right way.

In Power

And you’re outside this year, but you weren’t last year. Why display outside this year?

Simmons

Because I demanded it. This is a hands-on show and this industry is a product industry. And that’s the space where you can really get in touch with who we really are. Our DNA is to put your hands on the products. It’s expensive to have an outside booth, but you know what? It’s well worth the investment. So it was a demand for my side. As long as I’m in this chair, we will have an outside display.

I want to say it one more time. We are making changes. It’s not that there’s a big reorganization. But there are some changes that I intend to make in this organization to get us to the level of operational excellence that our customers and our channel partners expect. That includes, like I said, robotics. That includes our traditional outdoor power equipment products and the spare parts and the service that supports them. And it also includes things that I really want to look into and how we can better support the different channels.

You’ve got dealer-distributor, you’ve got regional retail business, and you’ve got kind of a unique growing new business model, and robotics. There’s also e-commerce. We need to put some additional focus into how we run those, not as just all of it mashed together as the Husqvarna portfolio. The retail business is different than the dealer business and distributor business. We need to focus more on how it gets done right. And I think on the robotic side, we need to be thinking about not just the traditional ways we’ve gone to market with that product, but maybe some really new business models that we could explore. 


So watch this space. we’ll make some adjustments on how we go to market. I’m sure of it. We’re working on that now and we’ll continue to get better.