A new lawsuit accuses Monarch Tractors of overpromising autonomous features in its tractors.
Berks Tractor, an Idaho dealership, is suing Monarch for breach of contract and warranty, alleging that the California-based startup’s tractors “failed to drive autonomously.” The dealership also said the 10 tractors it purchased “continue to experience significant problems” and called them “defective.”
Monarch Tractor CEO Praveen Penmesta and the company’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment. Monarch denies the charges in court filings.
The previously unreported lawsuit, filed in Idaho state court in September and later moved to federal court, is the latest trouble for Monarch.
The company has spent several years working to popularize its tractors, which are electric, self-driving, and, in Monarch’s words, “driver-optional,” to wineries and dairy farms. However, the company has experienced multiple layoffs in the past two years. The Ohio factory where Foxconn made tractors is now being converted into an AI data center, and Monarch is shifting its focus to software and technology licensing.
Berks Tractor said in the complaint that it purchased 10 tractors from Monarch in early 2024 with the intention of becoming one of the California startup’s first dealers. During these negotiations, Berks Tractor maintained that Monarch “explicitly represented” that the tractor was fully autonomous, and that its autonomous capabilities were “not limited by location or time.”
Monarch also provided Berks Tractor with demo videos showing the equipment performing autonomous tasks, according to the complaint.
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According to the complaint, Berks Tractor paid Monarch $773,088 to finance the purchase of the tractor. This means that you are still paying interest. The dealer also purchased spare parts. Monarch delivered the first five tractors in April 2024 and the remaining five in June 2025.
The lawsuit alleges the problems started right away.
“Upon receiving the tractor, Berks Tractor discovered that the tractor was not functioning as described and was unable to operate autonomously,” the complaint states. The dealer reported this to Monarch, and the startup’s sales team “tried to work with Birks Tractors to make the autonomous tractor work autonomously,” but failed.
Barks Tractor claims that Monarch’s sales team subsequently acknowledged “both verbally and in writing” that the tractor’s autonomy was “limited and could not function autonomously indoors.” The dealership then claims that despite “numerous attempts” to get Monarch to “repair or replace the defective tractor,” there was “no support or follow-up for months to get the self-driving tractor to function as promised.”
“[T]”Birks Tractor Company requested that Monarch take back the defective tractor, but Monarch refused,” the dealers allege in the lawsuit.
