Burks Tractor, an Idaho-based dealership, filed a lawsuit against Monarch Tractor of California. The suit accuses the California-based startup of a breach of contract and warranty violations after its tractors failed to operate autonomously. The dealership said the ten tractors it bought via interest-bearing financing for almost $800,000 are defective and didn’t live up to the driver-optional, or autonomous, claims of the company. Burks bought the tractors in early 2024 with the intent of being among the California company’s first retail dealers.
Burks said Monarch misrepresented the tractors as fully autonomous and not limited by location or time. An article in Farm Equipment Magazine said Monarch attempted to make the units work autonomously but failed, eventually admitting to the limitations but refusing to take back the defective inventory. A November 19 letter from Monarch Tractor’s HR Department to 102 employees warned of pending layoffs while changing the business to software licensing.
-NAFB