Pottinger, best known to Irish farmers through its range of grassland machines, has become increasingly focused on tillage equipment in recent years.
This focus appears to be paying off as the Austrian machinery giant generated a turnover of €301m during the 2015/2016 financial year.
This level of turnover, from a company with 1,700 employees, was achieved during a “difficult market situation and an overall downturn in sales in the agriculture technology industry”, the company says.
Tillage and seed drill technology sales up
Grassland technology, such as mowers and wagons, accounts for 57% of the company’s sales, while tillage and seed drill technology now accounts for 28% of sales.
This encompasses an increase in sales of 20% in the seed drill sector compared to the previous year.
The company says the enormous effort invested in developing new tillage, seed-bed preparation and seed drill products has paid dividends.
The majority (86.5%) of equipment manufactured by the company is exported with 19% of sales destined for Germany and a further 13.5% sold into the French market.
Ongoing development
The company’s Managing Director, Heinz Pottinger, explained that the company is involved in a series of expansion projects as a means of investing in the future success of the company.
When we develop new products, we think in the same dimensions as our customers; conserving forage and soil while delivering excellent working results, reliability and cost effectiveness.
“Because we continue to listen to our customers, we have been able to develop into an international specialist for forage harvesting, tillage, seed-bed preparation and seed drill technology that is completely independent of any tractor brand.
“Together with our customers and dealerships, we will stay on this successful course into the future,” he said.
