Valtra Reaches 1000th CVT Transmission Milestone
AGCO’s Valtra brand has announced a production milestone at its Suolahti, Finland, factory with the completion of the 1000th AGCO continuously variable transmission (CVT).
At Brazil’s recent Agrishow 2026 - the largest in South America - Massey Ferguson introduced a new ethanol-powered engine concept, developed by AGCO Power as a purpose-built platform, rather than a modified diesel unit.
Focus on Regional Alternative Fuel Solutions
The project is said to be driven by a strategic decision towards the use of alternative fuels tailored to regional availability, particularly in markets such as Brazil, where ethanol production and distribution is widespread.
Designed for Agricultural Applications
The engine is aimed at the 200–300hp range, making it ideal for agricultural applications such as row-crop tractors, planting operations, and heavy transport tasks.
The concept has been driven by Brazilian engineering teams, involving over three years of R&D and over 10,000 hours of field testing, suggesting a strong focus on real-world durability and performance parity with diesel engines.
Purpose-Built Ethanol Platform
Unlike retrofit or conversion of existing diesel engines, the concept is designed from the ground up to handle ethanol’s specific combustion characteristics, including differences in energy density and lubrication behaviours.
Sources report that the key objectives are to deliver comparable torque, responsiveness, and reliability under continuous high-load conditions typically seen in widespread agricultural use.
Ideally suited to regions with established bio-fuel ecosystems, particularly in the case of ethanol, which can be locally sourced or even produced on-farm from crops such as sugarcane or corn, the initiative suggests that AGCO is possibly looking at a multi-fuel platform strategy, typically including ethanol, hydrogen and electrification, rather than pursuing a single global solution.
