At European tractor sales
New Holland and John Deere battle for first place
In February, the trade association Fedecom the sales figures for tractors for 2016. In addition, the result per brand for 2015. Sales dipped again last year. The worst result in years. How did sales in countries around us go?
The dire situation in dairy farming has undoubtedly had an effect on tractor sales. This has been the case since free market forces. However, arable farming and contracting companies are no longer so 'willing to buy'. Much has been invested in new equipment in recent years. In addition, many contracting companies clearly notice that their livestock customers have less to spend. So be careful and don't get too 'crazy'.
Last but not least, the costs are also taken into account. The rule of 1.000 guilders per hp has now been replaced by 1.000 euros per hp. It is the extremely competitive financing conditions that should convince entrepreneurs. Fedecom, the trade association for agricultural mechanization companies and manufacturers, only registers tractors that dealers deliver to end users. How many tractors have been sold through gray imports remains to be seen. This may cloud the sales figures.
Twelve-month sales in 2016 accounted for 2.711 new agricultural tractors. In addition, dealers sold a total of more than 600 compact tractors. With a final result of 2.700 pieces, last year is slightly lower than 2015. The difference is very small, however, with 42 pieces. After the peak years of 2008 and 2011, sales are steadily declining. It remains to be seen whether 2017 will change this.
Due to the competition law, Fedecom is obliged to publish the sales numbers per brand with a one-year delay. So now we're talking about 2015† In that year, New Holland held its own as number one. The difference with John Deere - the number two - is 38 pieces; almost 1,5 percent market share. On three we find Fendt with 377 pieces. For number four, Case IH, we have to take a step back. A total of 279 agricultural tractors.
New Holland is now the number one position in our country for the seventh year in a row. John Deere last took that spot in 2008, although the difference is sometimes small. In 2014 NH narrowly won with only 4 tractors!
In numbers, John Deere is experiencing the largest decrease. It sold 2015 fewer tractors in 82 compared to a year earlier. Fendt has a slightly smaller loss to deal with. It is perhaps striking that Zetor faces a significant setback. It sold only 15 tractors in one year. As a result, sales of the brand have more than halved in one year. In peak year 2008 there were 205! This is partly due to the change of importer, but undoubtedly also to the situation at dairy farmers. It is more difficult to filter out with other brands. There are also positive stars: Claas, Kubota and Valtra saw the result improve substantially in 2015.
If we look at the 'big' countries around us, our total sales numbers are hardly significant. Germany – which took over the lead in Europe from France in 2015 – accounted for 2016 units in 28.746, of which 21.000 have more than 50 hp. John Deere is narrowly leading the agricultural tractor segment, although it sold nearly 1.000 fewer tractors. Fendt is in second place but still has to give up more. Nearly 1.050 fewer tractors. We only find New Holland in sixth place. France, the European number two, has not yet published final figures. It is estimated that the sales number is around 25.000 units in total (agricultural and compact). That is more than in 2015, but still low for the mechanization sector in the country. Despite financial support measures, low milk prices and a poor grain harvest have a lot of influence. John Deere is the market leader, closely followed by New Holland. Claas we find on three. The brand does not even succeed in this in its home country of Germany. With the tractor factory in Le Mans, the French consider it their own. It is, after all, a bit of Renault.
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countries
The number three – Europe wide – is Italy with 18.300 tractors. However, that includes compacts. New Holland is lord and master there. That may be expected. John Deere plays a much smaller role. Italians like to buy their own tractors, as shown by the sales numbers of Landini, Same and Lamborghini. The SDF and Argo group achieve this nowhere else in Europe. In the United Kingdom, John Deere is unbeatable with a 30 percent brand share. However, these are figures from 2015. Last year 10.600 tractors were sold. A slight drop.
Twelve European countries have now announced their sales figures. From this we can conclude that New Holland is the market leader in Europe. Tractor sales are number one in five countries. Important countries for the Fiat group brand include Italy and Poland. It is striking that John Deere (which leads less in one country) mainly dominates the large countries. Germany, France the UK and Spain. New Holland is doing particularly well in small destinations. The patriotism of buyers is also noticeable. In Sweden, Valtra is firmly at the top and Austrians buy Steyr or Lindner. Germany has the unique situation in which four of the five largest brands are (largely) produced domestically.
Niels van der Boom
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