CNH Industrial, the parent company of Case and New Holland Construction Equipment, has finalized its previously announced plan to stop production at its Burlington, Iowa, assembly plant.
The Burlington plant produces Case light construction equipment, including diesel and electric backhoe loaders, rough-terrain forklifts and utility tractors. CNH says backhoe loader demand has dropped 47% since 2014, while demand for skid steers and compact track loaders produced at other CNH facilities has increased nearly 70%. The decline in demand has made the Burlington plant CNH’s lowest-utilized facility and the most costly to maintain.
In 2021, Case moved production of its M Series dozer line from Burlington to its facility in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The dozer line had been added with a $24 million expansion at the plant in 2015 when CNH closed its Calhoun, Georgia, plant.
The decision to close the Burlington plant was tentatively announced in November 2024 and finalized on November 4, 2025, following the bargaining process with the United Auto Workers (UAW). Operations will end by the second quarter of 2026, affecting approximately 200 employees.
CNH said in a release that the company remains committed to supporting impacted employees through negotiated support packages, in which it intends to include severance pay, continued health insurance, job training and replacement assistance.
The employees at the Burlington plant, along with those at CNH's Racine, Wisconsin, plant, went on a nine-month strike in 2022. The strike ended when workers ratified a new three-year contract on January 23, 2023, set to expire in May 2026.
Following the announcement, CNH paused production at the plant, with employees paid for the time off, to allow time to process the news. Production will resume next week through the plant closure. CNH will maintain a presence in Burlington focused on engineering and testing, including a proving-grounds site.
CNH says, despite the closure, it remains committed to manufacturing in the U.S., with plans to invest nearly $5 billion over five years into U.S. manufacturing and R&D facilities, supporting over 8,000 American employees.
Remaining U.S.-based construction equipment production facilities for CNH will include:
- Wichita, Kansas: Produces skid steer loaders and compact track loaders
- Fargo, North Dakota: Manufacturers wheel loaders and tractors
