“We are on course to meet the strategic goal of selling around 20,000 Fendt tractors by 2020.”
That was the over-riding message from Peter-Josef Paffen (pictured below), vice president and brand director of Fendt EME and chairman of the AGCO/Fendt management team, when speaking at a recent Fendt field day in Wadenbrunn near Wurzburg (Germany).
He explained: “2017 was an excellent year for Fendt. We were able to increase tractor sales by around 10% to 15,020 units.
“This positive trend continues in the current year. We expect tractor sales of 16,800 units by the end of 2018. That’s a plus of another 12%.”
He explained that, for Fendt, Germany remains the single most tractor market; about one third of its annual tractor production goes to German customers.
He explained: “With 3,050 registrations and a market share of 24.2%, Fendt took first place in the first half of 2018. That translates to 0.6% more than a year ago.
“We are also pleased about the positive market acceptance of large tractors above 300hp. In this segment, we occupy first place with just under 40% market share and 366 registrations.”
Western and central Europe
He continued: “The improved economic conditions in many regions and product areas across Europe resulted in increased demand for tractors and agricultural machinery in 2017.
“In 2017 we reached a new high of 8.6%. In 2018 we will reach the 9% mark for the very first time.
“In France, we are consolidating the third place we achieved for the first time in 2017. In Italy, we stand a good chance of increasing sales of our tractors to more than 1,000 units for the first time in the company’s history.”
World markets
He added: “For the first time, we will sell more than 800 tractors – Fendt and Challenger – in North America this year. The average volume over the last few years stood at around 400 units.”
Fendt also managed to increase sales volumes in Australia/New Zealand. He explained: “Following sales figures of around 200 to 300 units in the past, we sold 427 Fendt tractors there in 2017.
“Our target for 2018 is a sales volume of 550 units. We are also making our first steps with Fendt’s ‘full line’ in that region with the launch of the Tigo loader wagons and our round balers during the 2018/2019 season.”
Fendt plans to sell around 1,000 tractors in the entire APA (Asia-Pacific and Africa) region. In Africa, the primary focus will be on the South African market.
On research and development activities, he said: “We now have around 500 engineers working on new and further developments for tractors and forage harvesters. For the first time, the development budget is set to exceed €70 million this year.”
‘Full-line’ machinery sales figures
He added: “The goal of the Fendt 2020 strategy is to develop the brand into a global and digital ‘full liner‘.
“For example, this year we will bring 110 Fendt tracked tractors into the market.
“The growth in combine harvester sales is also solid; we’ve sold 450 units – 100 more than a year earlier.
“Katana [self-propelled forage harvester] sales are steady and at a low level as planned. Here, there is still a lack of models in the lower performance segment.
“The sales development of Fendt balers is rather pleasing. Square balers are doing better every year. For 2018, 125 units are planned [to be sold].”
He added: “The new round balers from the [ex Lely/Welger] Wolfenbuttel plant managed a particularly good start. The acceptance among customers has been great.
“If everything goes according to plan, we will sell more than 600 round balers in the first year.
“The mowers, tedders and rakes from the [Fella] AGCO plant in Feucht are also doing very well. A total of about 2,660 forage machines are set to be delivered by the end of 2018 – the second full year of sales. That’s more than twice as many as the year before.
“The loader [forage] wagons from the [ex Lely] Waldstetten plant are also in extremely high demand. More than 100 units were sold on the market in the first year of sales,” concluded Paffen.
