Torrance will lose 180 jobs when tractor manufacturer Kubota and its credit arm, a fixture in Southern California for 43 years, becomes the latest Japanese-owned subsidiary to leave the South Bay and move its American headquarters to Texas, the company announced Thursday.

Much like Toyota, which made a similar announcement last year, Kubota Tractor Corp. and Kubota Credit Corp. are relocating to the Dallas suburb of Grapevine within the next 18 months. Company officials said the move will allow its administrative staff to be closer to its major markets and manufacturing, assembly and distribution facilities in Georgia and Kansas.

Osaka-based Kubota Corp. said the company has “been planning for increased efficiencies on the heels of recent expansions and an aggressive growth strategy.”

“This restructuring and relocation to Texas aligns with our strategic business objectives to strengthen Kubota’s brand in the U.S. marketplace, enter new industry segments, and to position our company for long-term, sustainable growth in North America,” said President and CEO Masato Yoshikawa. “This is the most significant change we have undertaken during our long and successful history in the U.S., and there was much thought, deliberation and consideration that went into our decision.

“California has been good to us,” Yoshikawa added, “but it makes better business sense for us to be centrally located, and we look forward to achieving added operational efficiencies with this move.”

The company employs 1,200 at its Gainesville, Ga., factory and in 2013 opened a new 460,000-square-foot tractor-manufacturing plant in Jefferson, Ga.

A 450,000-square-foot plant is under development in Edgerton near Kansas City and is set to open in the third quarter of the year, creating an initial 75 jobs, Kubota announced in December.

In a press release, Torrance officials said it was “very disappointing” to lose “an excellent corporate citizen” in a community that “prides itself on being a business-friendly city.”

City Manager LeRoy Jackson said municipal officials were unaware of the move until they were informed by the company on Thursday.

“Their decision is based on business activity,” Jackson said. “Their business is primarily from the Midwest and they have to make business decisions.”

The move to Texas will allow Kubota to respond “more quickly” to market and industry changes and “streamline its operations for both dealer and consumer benefit,” the company said in the release announcing the move.

Jackson said he was unaware if the city had been in contact with Kubota or other large employers in the wake of Toyota’s move out of Torrance.

The Japanese automaker announced in April 2014 it would relocate its sales and marketing headquarters to Plano, Texas, in 2017, taking with it 3,000 jobs.

Last month, Panasonic announced it was closing its Torrance manufacturing plant, laying off 90 workers and moving operations back to Japan.

Officials with the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. did not return telephone calls Thursday seeking comment.

The move was announced Thursday to Kubota employees and in Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott.

“I’m proud to extend a warm Texas welcome to Kubota and I know their investment in Texas will allow their company to grow, prosper and create even more jobs in the coming years,” Abbott said. “Thanks to our low-tax, low-regulation environment that allows all businesses to thrive, we are able to bring job creators like Kubota to Texas. As the top state in the nation for agriculture, Kubota is sure to find fertile ground for its products and distribution network.”

Kubota will break ground on a headquarters with room for 400 employees later this year; the company currently has a facility in Fort Worth with about 100 workers.

The Texas Enterprise Fund has extended a grant offer of $3.8 million to entice the company, which is expected to create 344 new jobs and make a $51 million capital investment.

Those inducements prompted Kubota to relocate there over other “centrally located” states, Yoshikawa said.

“Texas ultimately helped make that decision easier,” he said. “Their business friendly climate, state incentives and geographical location were important factors in our final decision.”

Kubota is the world’s largest maker of small tractors and is Japan’s second largest farm equipment manufacturer. It also makes iron pipes and construction equipment.

The company moved to Southern California in 1972, several years after introducing its small tractors typically used for small garden plots and lawn maintenance to the U.S. market. Retirees and hobby farmers represented the company’s largest consumer base, the Daily Breeze reported in 2008.

The company first moved to Compton and then Torrance because it wanted a presence near Long Beach, where most of its vehicles were once imported.

Kubota occupies a 4.4-acre site on Del Amo Boulevard at Prairie Avenue that was purchased in December 1991 for $4.3 million, property records show. The company built its 78,722-square-foot headquarters in 1993.

While it’s unclear whether Kubota will sell or lease the property, Mayor Pat Furey said in a press release that the city will work to market the land to other companies.