Johann Georg Fendt started building tractor/mower combinations with his sons Xavar and Hermann back in the 1920s. By 1930, they had settled on the name Dieselross (Diesel Horse) for their 18hp tractors.
In 1938, the company was incorporated as Xaver Fendt GmbH & Co. It continued to grow, producing its 10,000th tractor in August of 1950 and, with a remarkable acceleration in production, that number had climbed to 50,000 by 1955.
By the early 1970s, the company was prospering on the continent and turned its sights to the UK, exhibiting for the first time at the Royal Agricultural Show.
It was here that an engineer by the name of Bill Bennet from Gloucestershire saw the machines.
Bennet met Fendt at the Royal Agricultural show, Stoneleigh, in 1973 on the German stand – a stand promoting Germany and its products.
He then visited the factory in October 1973, and during the visit he was asked to be the UK importer. He drove down and collected the first load of Fendt tractors in December 1973.
Yet, it was not totally straightforward as the new tractors lacked a hitch suitable for UK farming – so Bill went ahead and designed his own.
These new hitchers impressed Fendt to the extent that it decided to buy them for fitting at the factory back in Germany, and the company is still a customer of Bennet Engineering.
50 years on from that small start, Stuart Bennet has tracked down one of the three original tractors – a Farmer 104, which is undergoing restoration.
Bonhill and beyond
In 1992, Bonhill engineering took on the import and distribution of Fendt which was then still an independent company.
In 1997, Xaver Fendt GmbH & Co was purchased by the AGCO corporation, although the marketing arrangements were not changed until 2000, when AGCO/Fendt was established with its own sales staff.
The lion’s share of Fendt sales are to its home market in Germany (around 30%), while the UK and Ireland accounted for 5% in 2021.
It is often asked as to how German farmers can afford a premium tractor whereas others appear to struggle.
A critical factor in this is that they got in on the ground floor while Fendt was still small and more affordable.
By sticking with the company, the value of a farmer’s fleet grew with the value of the brand.
