Fendt at the Agritechnica – high expectations were surpassed
The world's biggest agricultural machinery exhibition, the Agritechnica 2011, has closed its gates. Fendt is exceptionally pleased with the outcome and draws a very positive balance: during the past week, some 415,000 visitors experienced the Fendt products in Hall 9 of the exhibition grounds in Hanover.
“This year the Agritechnica clearly reflected the current excellent mood all over the agricultural machinery industry. Producer prices are at a high level and we are looking back on an excellent harvest. Accordingly, visitors are ready to invest and we held many great talks with our customers. We went to the Agritechnica with high expectations and these have been clearly surpassed. With 415,000 expert visitors, including some 100,000 visitors from abroad, the exhibition in Hanover has lived up to its reputation as the world's leading exhibition for the agricultural machinery industry. The new and fresh design of the AGCO stand was very well received and, as usual, we were able to present numerous innovations and technical highlights to our guests. This is the first time that we have supported our messages with a stage show, and it aroused great enthusiasm,” said Peter-Josef Paffen, Vice President and Spokesman for the Fendt Management on the last day of the show, visibly pleased with the course of the show.
AGCO presented itself with all of its brands in Hall 9, as usual. The 7,000 sqm stand was the largest at the Agritechnica and very well visited over the entire week. “We are convinced that almost all of the 415,000 visitors were guests at our stand.” On nearly 2,400 sqm, Fendt presented its entire tractor line-up, from the 200 Vario V/F/P specialty tractor range with 70 hp to the top model, the 939 Vario with 390 hp. The spotlight was on the Fendt Efficient Technology (FET) ranges: the new 700 Vario range, the 800 Vario range and the 900 Vario range, which has just set a new world record in fuel-economy. The show provided a closer look at the philosophy behind Fendt Efficient Technology and its three related areas and earned thundering applause four times a day.
One of the technologies that makes a significant contribution to the high efficiency of Fendt products is the Fendt Variotronic operating system. It was therefore exhibited in the middle of the FET ranges. Visitors were able to test the electronics and operating system on different models, and see the benefits of the one-terminal strategy, the flat menu hierarchy and practical touch technology for themselves. The special technical highlight was naturally the Fendt GuideConnect, which was awarded a Gold Medal at the Agritechnica. With this system, two tractors are connected via satellite navigation and radio transmission to form one unit, where one of the two vehicles is unmanned and performs the same working procedure as the guiding vehicle. The intelligent Fendt CargoProfi front loader and the load relief control for the comfort front linkage, which both received a Silver Medal at the exhibition, were exhibited at the stand.
There were also a number of technical innovations from Fendt Harvesting waiting for the visitors. At the world's leading agricultural machinery exhibition, Fendt presented itself as a full-liner for the first time. Next to the Fendt combine and Fendt baler models, the Fendt forage harvester, the Fendt Katana 65, made its trade show debut at the Agritechnica and, as expected, was a true visitor magnet. “This shows that Fendt will be competing strongly in the forage harvester market,” emphasised Roland Schmidt, Fendt Marketing Director.
“A measure for the success of this year's exhibition is certainly our Fendt Shop. After just a few days, many items had to be reordered and the special Agritechnica model of the new forage harvester Fendt Katana 65 sold out quickly. That clearly shows that customers identify themselves with our brand. It is always nice to see the radiating eyes of the visitors at the stand,” he added.
The senior management of the AGCO Corporation was also well represented at the Agritechnica, with Martin Richenhagen, President, Chairman and CEO and his executive-level colleagues. They were extremely positive about the new stand design concept, which allows better presentation the entire corporate group as one unit. Next to the premium brand Fendt, Massey Ferguson, Valtra and Challenger also exhibited in the AGCO area. Represented for the first time were the new members of the corporate group, Laverda and Fella.
Fendt also garnered multiple awards at the Agritechnica in Hanover. In addition to winning a Gold Medal and two Silver Medals from the German Agricultural Society (DLG), the development team from Fendt was also pleased to receive the “Machine of the Year 2012” award for the 700 Vario. The technology editors from the Deutsche Landwirtschaftsverlag publishing company named the new range to the best tractor in the upper medium-horsepower category. In the Agrartechnik trade magazine's Service Award, Fendt dealers and distributors won two of three Decade Awards, a National Award, three of five Regional Awards and even four of five Country Awards, which all clearly proved their high level of service. The Deutsche Landwirtschaftsverlag also presented the Vario transmission as one of the milestones in agricultural engineering.
“Overall, we can say that we are very satisfied and are already looking forward to the Agritechnica 2013. However, there are also some very important events for Fendt in the upcoming year, which already need to be organised,” said Schmidt, referring to the Fendt Field Day at the end of August in Wadenbrunn as well as the factory opening ceremonies in September of next year.
