New Holland’s Dynamic History of Becoming a Leader in the Agricultural Machinery World
Do not let the name mislead you here – New Holland was established inPennsylvania, USA. A lot has changed for the company since 1895 and its story has more than a few twists and turns. There are two divisions of the company in present day – Construction and Agriculture.
The First Step
Abram Zimmerman was a blacksmith – he created the company and soon began offering famers stationary power plants to pair with devices like feed mills, starting what is New Holland Agriculture today. He realized the engines needed further development because of the cold winters in the region and his new design made the power plants reliable even when exposed to freezing temperatures. This was the first among many successful designs created by New Holland Machine Company. One of the most important devices proved to be the self-tying baler.
In the meantime, a Belgian engineer named Leon Claeys started his own business venture in 1906 and began making threshing devices – his machines were meant to extract grains from crops and Claeys was the man who created the first combine harvester in Europe with self-propulsion. By the end of the 50s, Claeys was already a leading combine manufacturer and it was definitely among the biggest European ones.
The Multiple Acquisitions
Sperry New Holland was formed after Sperry Rand acquired New Holland in 1947 – the year when the company introduced a groundbreaking machine – the haybine mower-conditioner, which revolutionized harvesting. Meanwhile, Mano Brunen was able to introduce a hydraulic excavator that same year and founded Simit, which merged with Fiat in 1970 after a few generations of the excavator were presented to the market.
Sperry New Holland became the major shareholder in Claeys in 1964. Claeys products were renamed and the brand Clayson emerged. The company’s first backhoe loader was unveiled a couple of years later.
Back in 1917, Henry Ford unveiled the first Fordson tractor, and so did Fiat a year later. Henry Ford was able to initiate a business that continued to thrive. After many decades, the tractor manufacturing division was a major success, and in 1986 the company acquired Sperry New Holland which was immediately rebranded as Ford New Holland Inc.
The Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino (Fiat’s full name) was a car manufacturer initially but soon began producing heavier vehicles and machines. A few decades later the Fiat Trattori division was created, which grew into FiatAgri in 1974 after selling more than a million machines domestically. Exactly 17 years later the division added 80% of Ford New Holland to their capital. Meanwhile, Fiat-Allis was extremely successful on the construction equipment market with a particularly strong presence in Latin America. The construction division of New Holland which was also bought by Fiat only added to the Italian manufacturer’s strong market position.
All these changes eventually turned New Holland into a global market leader with an exceptionally wide range of products. Its modern image was completed in 1996. The construction division was happy to celebrate the 200,000th skid-steer loader produced which was a major success.
The company was able to become the owner of the Polish combine harvester manufacturer Bizon in 1998. The Polish brand was the bestseller on the domestic market at that time and had also developed relations for export with Ukraine, Pakistan and Latin America. Later that year, New Holland continued the already established joint venture between Fiat and the Turkish Koç Group. The Turkish plant produced more than 600,000 tractors by the end of 2011.
The CNH Company Formation
Just a year later, the Case Corporation and New Holland N.V. merged, thus the CNH holding company was born. Shanghai New Holland Agricultural Machinery Corporation Ltd was founded in 2002 as a result of the partnership between New Holland and two of the leading Chinese industry companies. The joint venture is now the biggest producer of agricultural machines in China. CNH’s joint ventures in Turkey, India and China continue to thrive to this day.
The Never Ending Expansion
In 2009, New Holland was proud to present the first tractor running on hydrogen the world had ever seen. The E215B crawler excavator with a low-emissions engine was launched a year earlier.
A new Russian plant began operating the following year. The company is currently based in Italy, but its product range is available in 170 countries. The product portfolio includes tractors, balers, headers, telehandlers, spreaders, forage equipment, combines, seeding machinery, specialized harvesters. Compact construction machines and utility vehicles are also available.
More info at: https://agriculture.newholland.com/nar/en-us.