25 Years of John Deere Automated Guidance: A Precision Ag Timeline
This year marks the 25th anniversary of John Deere moving into automated guidance.
In the European market, recent results for 2024 show that the market for 50+ hp tractors fell by around 6.5%, with a total just shy of 140,000 units. While the big three markets of France, Germany and Italy mirrored this trend, surprisingly it was bucked by Spain, Portugal and Belgium.
France, the most important market, delivered 33,225 tractors, a fall of 6.8% and Germany, the second largest fell by 3.4% to record 29,315 units. Italy held onto third position, despite the 12.3% to 15,448 machines compared to 17,613 tractors in 2023. Amalgamating the three markets resulted in a 77,988 total, compared to 83,623 registrations in 2023.
Elsewhere, the Polish tractor market fared badly, falling 17% to 8,590 units, from 10,311 in 2023, while the biggest drop was in Hungary, fell a whopping 49% to 1,446 units, compared to 2,824 the previous year. Already mentioned, Spain was a 2024 bright spot where registrations increased by a fifth to 10,390 units, Belgium rose 17.2% to 2,158 units, and Portugal was up by 10% to 5,825 tractors.
Looking at brands, John Deere topped the league table in the French tractor market, while also topping the rankings in nine other European tractor markets. Delivering around 19,600 of the 140,000 new, 50hp+ tractors registered in Europe in 2024, 11,760, were in the three key markets of France, Germany and Italy.
Breaking the numbers down, 6,059 units were registered in France for the 18.2% share of the total 33,225-unit market This compared with 7,179 units and a 20.1% share of the 2023 market. Elsewhere, the global giant topped the tractor charts in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Spain.
New Holland registered roughly 14,300 50hp+ tractors, topping the charts in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia. Despite recording 5.3% fewer tractors in Italy, it still topped the table with 2,725 units and a 17.6% share of the total market of 15,448 units.
Approx. 7,800 Massey Ferguson tractors were registered in 2024, 2,771 in the main market of France, where the brand secured fifth place. Its share fell by 12.2% in Germany to 1193 units, giving it 8th place with a 4.1% market share.
Claas registered approx. 7,800 tractors in mainland Europe in 2024, of which 5,537 were in the top three markets of France, Germany and Italy- a similar number to both 2023 and 2022. Sales of 2,236 tractors (+6.9%) of the 29,315- strong German market, gave it third place in the overall standings, with a share of 7.6% (6.9% in 2023).
Fendt consolidated its lead in the German market with 7,391 units and a 25.2% share. Up from 6,140 units (20.2%) in 2023, second placed JD was a distance behind with 4,659 units (15.9%). Fendt also performed well in France taking second spot with 4,226 units.
Kubota accounted for approx. 8,800 new tractors in Europe last year, down from approx. 9,200 units in 2023, although the brand did secure fourth positions in the two largest markets of France and Germany. When the three big markets are added together then Kubota recorded 5,803 units (5,688 in 2023 and 5,766 in 2023) and fifth place behind Agco, CNH, John Deere and SDF.
