This being an Agritechnica year, we can expect a good scattering of major announcements from various manufacturers, and Claas has just dropped a major hint as to what we might expect from it this autumn.
Despite the poor sales of 2024 and with potential signs of recovery for the industry only lately appearing this year, the company appreciates that it has to keep moving forward with investment in new models.
The latest news from France is of a €6.5 million extension to the tractor manufacturing facility at Le Mans, which Claas has said is intended to fulfil the increased demand it expecting over the next 10 years.
Regional boost
Naturally, this is being hailed as excellent news for the region with the mayor of Le Mans, and former French agricultural minister, Stéphane Le Foll paying tribute to Claas’s commitment to the area.
This is all standard PR, but included in the company’s statement is the news that it sees significant growth potential in its tractor division, which it considers the best way forward for a harvester-focussed manufacturer that already dominates that market.
In particular, Claas states: “A modern, efficient and comfortable CVT (continuously variable transmission) tractor offering is key to realizing growth potentials with our sales partners.”
New emphasis from Claas
Whereas power and torque were once the main sale points of tractors, Claas has now picked out modernity, efficiency and comfort as the three factors to which customers are now paying attention.
Meanwhile, the actual performance level, if not quite a secondary consideration, is something to be decided upon once a tractor is sold upon these latest features.
Couple this with the mention of a CVT as being the standard transmission rather than a costly option, and there is very strong suggestion that the company is planning to launch something completely new.
There is always the temptation to build a mountain out of a molehill when presented with a slight nugget of information such as this, yet the company does appear to be flagging that a new mid-range tractor series is on its way.
While modernity, efficiency, and comfort are to be expected in any new machine, the takeaway here is that a CVT will be the key feature around which the tractors will be built.
Nothing fixed
It must be stressed that this is all speculation at present, but new machines will be along eventually and the company spending €6.5 million on extending and modernising its tractor plant indicates that the time may well be close.
The new 3,800m² multifunctional production facility is scheduled for completion by the end of 2026.
It is intended that the building will further optimise site logistics and increase vertical integration, reducing the need for internal transportation while improving quality and reducing costs.
Company announcements can often say much by what is not mentioned as what is and, in this particular case, the role of autonomy and the likelihood of robotic machines being built at Le Mans is not mentioned once.
