We are used to company reports, and especially the quarterly shareholder calls from the American corporations being full of grandiose talk of great success with any adverse factors couched in the strange shareholder language of headwinds, aggressive restructuring and so on.
Claas though is different; it is still a family-owned company so the annual report need not be full of absolute positivity to the exclusion of any other real news or advance notice of where the company is heading.
In this regard the latest annual missive contains some items that illustrate how the company views not just itself, but the machinery trade generally on a global scale.
Vision from the top
In the report Jan-Hendrik Mohr, CEO Claas Group, takes us on a brief tour of his company’s activities highlighting the launch of Claas Connect as one of the major milestones passed during the year.
From outside of the company, or the world of digitally enhanced farming in general, this may appear small beer, but it is an achievement that Claas feels is worth noting although it is not as appealing to the majority of farmers and tractor fans as a shiny new piece of metal and plastic.
That may be something that is changing, but digital systems bring a whole new dimension to practical farming and while companies may boast of the wonderful achievement in getting all the data to sing together, it is lost on many who simply see it as another burden being imposed at breakneck speed, rather than being allowed to absorb it at their own pace.
Beyond bringing electronics into everyday tractor operations there are also the advances they are making in autonomy and automation.
The great hope of several years ago, that roads and fields would be full of self driving vehicles by now is long faded as the sheer cost and complexity of automation became apparent. Yet there is still potential for field operations and this is not being ignored.
Claas increase capacity
Yet digital platforms such as Claas Connect are only part of the I.T revolution.
Any manufacturer who is insisting that farmers adopt digital systems should also be looking at their own operations and the company notes that it is making large investments in modernising the production of its products.
The science of bolting components together does not stand still and Claas claims to be modernising its production infrastructure and automating more production steps.
The new component handling building seen by Agriland earlier in the year being a case in point.
On a global scale, Claas tells us of its presence at the Farm Progress Show in the US, underlining the point that it is a global company, and while events may disturb trading on one continent, there are six more to work on.
Worldwide outlook
We in Europe might think of it as a local company, which it is, yet it had a turnover of €5 billion and that cannot be found in Europe alone.
So, while we may wonder about the relevance of some machines to the Irish market, Claas has much bigger fish to fry elsewhere.
Mention is also made of the decision to sell its Indian subsidiary to Yanmar in the summer. This was seen by many as a need for cash and that assumption is not totally quelled, yet it is now explained that Claas wishes to focus on Europe and America.
It is in these markets that it feels it can best exploit its tech savviness, leaving the impression that India was considered a low tech market that dragged upon its crusade of modernity elsewhere.
On the financial side, the news was was totally expected. Turnover in 2024 was €5 billion, down 19% from 2023, a figure which makes for juicy headlines.
However, a focus on this aspect will ignore the fact that the company is able to weather such storms and is not shying away from planning for the future.
