Cub Cadet Ultima Series 2018-2019

Designers: Dennis Fowler, Industrial Design Lead for MTD Products Inc., Veronica Yagusevich and Jonathan Prybor, MTD Industrial Design Group, Valley City, Ohio, USA
Manufacturer: Cub Cadet, Valley City, Ohio, USA

The all-new Cub Cadet Ultima Series will change the way you mow your lawn. And that isn’t hyperbole. This line of zero-turn mowers combines next level comfort, superior speed and control, and best-in-class cut quality to create the ultimate mowing experience. But, the perfect mower isn’t made overnight.

Hearing from real customers

It starts with design, and Cub Cadet doesn’t take that lightly. Our industrial design team drafted more than 40 unique renderings that ranged from “mild to wild”. From traditional to sports-car-inspired, we dove deep into what the next generation of a zero-turn could look like and accomplish. We convened focus groups. We hosted a design fair. We went to the homes of zero-turn owners. It all pointed to one thing: zero-turn lawn mowers are begging for a refresh.

It was clear what people wanted -- strength, durability and sleek style – so we developed a prototype, put it up against six competitive zero-turn mowers and hosted a blind shopping experience with potential customers at our headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.

And wouldn’t you know? The Ultima Series performed exceedingly well against the competition, scoring the highest in just about every attribute under review, such as design, comfort, adjustability and ease of maintenance. Blind shoppers especially liked the design and strength of a unique tubular frame.

In all, the full journey of the Ultima Series took six months, input from 1,300 consumers and more than 63,000 hours of engineering and testing. That’s equivalent to more than 2,600 days, or just over seven years.