Tractors: where are they made?

Long gone are the glory days when the vast majority of tractors used on UK farms were built in UK factories.

Today, only CNH Industrial’s New Holland plant in Essex survives as a major tractor assembly centre, with JCB’s Fastrac production line near Cheadle, Staffordshire, being the only other source of UK-built tractors.

Further afield, Austria, France, Germany and Italy have managed to retain tractor production on a large scale, as have Japan and the United States – the latter being the source for the majority of the highest horsepower models used in Britain.

See also: Combines: where are they made?

For simpler, lower-powered models with thin profit margins, lower-cost locations are increasingly being exploited.

Turkey has huge manufacturing capacity – its tractor market, in unit terms, is one of the biggest in the world.

Likewise the scale of India’s market and improving production technologies make it a relatively new source of tractors for the West.

Although tractor sales growth in China has stalled over the past two years, the trend towards better-equipped machines – and big investments there by Western manufacturers – have strengthened the country’s potential for export sales. 

And in the sub-100hp and compact tractor sector, South Korea is already a strong player in the global production network.

In many cases, the manufacturers make the engines, transmissions and cabs that go into the finished products, or source major components from independent suppliers such as Carraro, Cummins, Dana, Deutz, FPT Industrial, Perkins and ZF, and local cab suppliers.

Check the map below to see which manufacturers are based in which countries – we’ve divided them into components and tractor assembly, cabs, engines and axles/transmissions.

See more detail on the manufacturers below the map.

Armatrac

Tractors supplied under the Armatrac export brand of Turkish manufacturer Erkunt Traktör Sanayi are assembled in the town of Sincan, on the outskirts of the Turkish capital Ankara.

The business, owned by Indian group Mahindra since 2017, sources transmissions from Carraro Group, which has plants in Italy, India and China, and engines from Deutz in Cologne, Germany, and Perkins in Peterborough.

Belarus

An integrated complex of factories producing engines, transmissions and cabs feeds the assembly lines of Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ), which turns out Belarus tractors in the east European country of the same name.

Branson

Branson is the export brand of Kukje Machinery Company and the tractors are built in Okcheon-gun, a city in central South Korea.

Kukje has been owned by fellow South Korean manufacturer Tong Yang Moolsan (TYM) since 2016.

Case-IH

All top-end Case-IH tractors are built in the United States.

The Magnum is assembled in Racine, Wisconsin, on the west bank of Lake Michigan, using CNH powershift and stepless transmissions also built there, and front axles from Dana’s Spicer range.

Steiger and Quadtrac artics come from Fargo, North Dakota, 600 miles to the north-west.

These feature powershift units from Univance in Japan and a ZF CVT from the Eccom range built in Passau, south-east Germany, and the town of Steyr in Austria.

All three ranges are powered by Cursor engines from FPT Industrial’s Bourbon-Lancy plant in central France.

European factories produce other Case models, mostly using cabs from the CNH plant in Croix, near Lille, northern France.

The factory in St Valentin, northern Austria, assembles all Luxxum (formerly Farmall Pro), Vestrum, Maxxum, Puma and Optum tractors for the UK, using transmissions from CNH’s Antwerp facility in Belgium and FPT engines from Turin, north-west Italy.

CNH’s Jesi plant near the Italian east coast port of Ancona is home to most of the smaller tractors in the Case range, including the Quantum orchard models and the Farmall C.

But production of simpler Farmall A tractors is shared by Jesi (85A to 115A) and CNH’s Türk Traktör joint venture in Ankara, Turkey, which also produces the FPT S8000 engine that powers them.

All F5C and NEF power units used in other models are sourced from FPT’s Turin factory.

Claas

The Le Mans factory in France, acquired with the Renault Agriculture operations in 2003, remains the principal home of Claas tractor production.

The one exception is the flagship Xerion built at the Harsewinkel headquarters plant of Claas, with its Eccom CVT sourced from ZF.

Power comes from Mercedes-Benz branded off-highway versions of Daimler OM engines prepared by MTU, a division of Rolls-Royce Power Systems, in Friedrichshafen, north-west Germany.

All Arion and Axion tractors use powershift transaxles from the Gima joint venture with Agco in Beauvais, northern France.

CMatic stepless units for the Arion 500 come from Claas Industrietechnik in Paderborn, Germany, and for the larger models from ZF Friedrichshafen’s German and Austrian plants.

Front axles, meanwhile, are sourced from Carraro and Dana factories in Italy.

FPT Industrial ships engines from Italy for the Arion 400 and Axion 800 and 900, while John Deere’s Saran plant in France supplies diesel power for the Arion 500 and 600 tractors.

Cab frames are outsourced but “dressed” in the Le Mans factory, while cabs for the Xerion are produced alongside the tractors in Harsewinkel.

Claas outsources its smaller, more specialist tractors – the Nexos orchard and Elios farm models are built by the Agritalia unit of Carraro Group in Rovigo, north-east Italy, while the Atos 200 and 300 come from SDF Group’s Treviglio factory further west.

Deutz-Fahr

All Deutz-Fahr tractors in the 6, 7 and 9 Series – from 126hp to 336hp – are built in a new factory at Lauingen, 80 miles north-west of Munich in southern Germany.

Diesel engines arrive from the Cologne plant of independent engine manufacturer Deutz.

Powershift and CVT transmissions for tractors from the 6 Series RCShift models upwards are shipped from ZF.

The Powershift models have transmissions built in SDF Group’s Treviglio factory in northern Italy. Front axles are built there, too.

Treviglio also makes the majority of smaller Deutz-Fahr tractors, including the Agrokid compacts, 5 Series Ecoline and TTV, and the 5G Series.

But the new 5D Keyline “economy” models are sourced from SDF’s newly upgraded Bandirma plant in north-west Turkey.

Apart from the 110-126hp Deutz-powered 5 Series tractors, all the Treviglio-built products have SDF Farmotion engines assembled in the group plant in India.

Fendt

Production of Fendt tractors is concentrated in the Bavarian town of Marktoberdorf, southern Germany, along with the Vario stepless transmissions that go into them.

Cabs are shipped in from Asbach-Bäumenheim, 70 miles north of the main factory.

Cabs and transmissions for the Fendt 900 MT Vario twin-track tractor are sent to Agco’s Jackson, Minnesota, plant in the US.

This also builds Challenger versions for the North American market, but the bigger 1100 MT has a locally-built cab and a powershift transmission from Caterpillar’s factory in Peoria, Illinois.

Front axles from Dana’s Spicer range produced in Italy include the central housing and independent wishbone suspension units on the new 900 and 1000 Vario models.

Fendt’s engine sourcing is quite diverse – the tracked machines and the 200/300 Vario tractors use Agco Power engines from Finland.

The 500 to current 900 Vario models have Deutz power; and the new Fendt 900 and 1000 Vario tractors have diesels from the newly formed MAN Engines unit of MAN Truck & Bus in Nuremberg, southern Germany.

Iseki

The Iseki TG6 Series tractors and other models in the Japanese manufacturer’s range are built in Matsuyama on the southern Japanese island of Shikoku.

JCB

The production lines for JCB’s two ranges of Fastrac tractors are located alongside its wheeled loader operations near Cheadle in Staffordshire.

Agco Power engines, and transmissions from Fendt’s Marktoberdorf factory, are installed as part of the modular powertrain.

Axles for the Fastrac 4000 are built by JCB Transmissions in Wrexham, north Wales, and purpose-built axles for the Fastrac 8000 are shipped from Dana’s Graziano facility in Italy.

Both series have a bespoke chassis fabricated by GKN Wheels & Structures in Telford, Shropshire, while driver accommodation is produced by JCB Cab Systems in a new factory near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

John Deere

For the most part, John Deere’s tractor production is shared across two locations – one in Germany and one in the US.

All tractors in the 7R, 8R and articulated 9R series emerge from Deere’s Waterloo, Iowa, headquarters plant.

Most use diesels from Deere’s engine plant nearby, but the top-horsepower 9R and its derivatives are powered by a 14.9-litre motor from the Jamestown factory of Cummins in Lakewood, New York.

In Europe, JD’s Mannheim facility in south-west Germany assembles all the 5R-, 6M- and 6R-series tractors up to the biggest 6250R model, with cabs shipped in from Bruchsal, 30 miles south of Mannheim, and engines from Saran, near Orleans in France.

Historically, the larger 6-series tractors (170hp-250hp) were also built in Waterloo for the US market, but this arrangement is coming to an end, which means Mannheim will now build all 6R models for global sale.

Towards the lower end of the range, the 5M tractors are sourced from a John Deere factory in Augusta, Georgia, while the 5E comes from Deere’s Hadapsar factory near Pune, south-east of Mumbai, India.

The 5G-series orchard and vineyard tractors are produced by Carraro Group’s Agritalia plant in Rovigo, Italy.

Kioti

Tractors carrying the Kioti export brand of Daedong Industries are assembled along with engines up to 73hp at Dalseong-gun near Daegu, in the south-east of South Korea.

From 100hp up, engines are sourced from the relatively new Doosan Infracore compact diesel operation at the port city of Incheon to the north-west of the tractor plant.

Kubota

The M4002 and M5001 series tractors are built in Tsukuba near Tokyo and the M-GX series at Sakai, near Osaka, using in-house engines, transmissions and cabs.

For the larger M7003 Series tractors, Kubota set up an assembly-only plant in Dunkirk on the northern French coast, using engines from Japan and transmissions from ZF.

Landini

Components are manufactured and assembled at three Argo Tractors plants in northern Italy, where powershift and CVT transaxles and front axles for all models up to 140hp are built in-house.

The 2 Series compacts, Rex 3 orchard and Trekker crawler tractors are all assembled at the San Martino in Rio factory near Modena, along with cab versions of the Rex 4 fruit tractors.

Platform versions of the Rex 4 are built in a dedicated plant in nearby Luzzara.

Both are within 14 miles of the cab and headquarters factories in Fabbrico, where the rest of the Landini product range is built.

This includes the flagship 7 Series, which uses powershift and CVT transmissions from ZF.

Engines for the Landini 2 Series are shipped from Yanmar’s Biwa factory, north-east of Osaka in Japan, and for the Rex 3F from Kohler Power in Reggio Emilia, 20 minutes up the road from San Martino in Rio.

Engines for all Landini models up to 130hp are from Deutz in Germany, while FPT’s Turin factory supplies diesels for the larger 114-225hp models.

Massey Ferguson

As one of the core plants producing Massey Ferguson tractors for global markets, the factory in Beauvais, northern France, turns out five series from the 5700 Dyna-4 to the 8700 S Dyna-VT.

Cab production is in a dedicated plant nearby, while Dyna-4 and Dyna-6 powershift transmissions for all models are manufactured and assembled in the Gima joint venture with Claas that forms part of the main factory complex.

Stepless transmissions are brought in from Agco’s Marktoberdorf factory in Germany, and all engines from Agco Power in Finland.

At the lower end of the range, the MF 4700 and MF 5700 “global platform” tractors are built at Agco’s Changzhou factory near Shanghai, China.

MF 3700 orchard tractors are outsourced to SDF Group, and the MF 1500 and 1700 compacts are supplied by Iseki in Japan.

McCormick

All models in the McCormick range are built in the Argo Tractors factories in and around Fabbrico in the Reggio Emilia region of northern Italy.

The VT-Drive stepless transmissions for the X8 and X7 models are built in ZF’s German and Austrian plants, along with the X7’s P6-Drive powershift transaxles.

Argo’s own powershift transmissions go into the 70-140hp X4M to X6.4 models – plus the X6.4’s VT-Drive stepless option – while orchard and vineyard tractors are built in the Luzzara and San Martino in Rio factories nearby.

These also manufacture transmission and axle components.

Cabs for all McCormick tractors come from Argo’s own facility in Fabbrico. Engines from 114-310hp are courtesy of FPT, while all smaller models get Deutz power (other than the Yanmar-powered X2 compacts).

New Holland

With the exception of two low-end ranges, all New Holland tractors for the UK are assembled in one of three plants.

Basildon in Essex is the site of Britain’s only large-scale tractor production facility, where it builds T6, T7 and T7 HD models for world markets.

It uses transaxles manufactured in a CNH plant in Antwerp, Belgium, fully-dressed Horizon cabs from Croix near Lille in northern France, and FPT Industrial engines from Turin, north-west Italy.

High-horsepower manufacturing goes stateside, with the T8 models built around CNH powershift and stepless transmissions in Racine, north of Chicago.

The T9 artics are from the Fargo plant in North Dakota, using powershift transmissions from Univance in Japan and Auto Command stepless transmissions from the Eccom range of ZF.

CNH company FPT Industrial ships Cursor engines from its Bourbon-Lancy plant in central France for these tractors.

The Jesi factory near the Italian port of Ancona produces the T4 specialist fruit and vineyard tractors, the TD5 and T5 families and the transmissions that go into them, while engines are from FPT in Turin.

Cab production is more diverse – for the T4 F/N/V and T5 Utility and Electro Command, glazed frames from Cab Plus in Jesi are “dressed” in the tractor plant.

However, for the T5 Auto-Command, frames welded up in Croix head across to the St Valentin plant in Austria for dressing.

Cabs for TD5 models are shipped from Yaris Kabin in Turkey, where CNH’s Türk Traktör joint venture builds New Holland T4 and T4S models powered by FPT S8000 engines.

LS Mtron’s Wanju-gun factory in South Korea supplies latest-generation Boomer compact tractors.

Same

While the new Same Dorado Natural range of 65-97hp tractors are built in SDF Group’s Bandirma factory in Turkey, the rest of the range comes from the headquarters plant in Treviglio, northern Italy.

Cabs, transmissions, front axles and engines are also produced there, but the smaller capacity Farmotion diesels are shipped from SDF’s Indian factory.

Solis

Tractors carrying the Solis export brand of India’s International Tractors Limited (ITL) are manufactured in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, alongside transmissions and engines. Smaller compact models are sourced through a partnership with Yanmar of Japan.

Tafe

An integrated manufacturing and assembly plant for transmissions, engines and finished products in Chennai, southern India, produces Tafe tractors for manufacturer Tractors and Farm Equipment.

TYM

The tractors from Tong Yang Moolsan (TYM) of South Korea are produced at the company’s Jeonbuk factory in the city of Iksan.

Doosan and Daedong engines from South Korea, Deutz motors from Germany and UK-built Perkins engines are used in the various models.

Valtra

All of the Finnish marque’s mainstream products, comprising the A, N and T series, are built at the Suolahti factory in the south of the country, with the exception of the flagship S4 series produced in Massey Ferguson’s Beauvais plant.

The integrated Suolahti facility includes production and assembly of complete powershift and CVT transmissions for the N and T models.

As part of the Agco “global platform” family, the Valtra A series tractors use 12×12 mechanical transaxles from the Changzhou factory in China and HiTech 4 powershift transmissions from Gima in Beauvais.

Engines are also built locally, at the Linnavuori factory to the south-west of the tractor plant, while cabs for the Suolahti-built models are assembled in Yliharma, to the north-west.

Orchard and other specialist A series models were previously sourced from Turkish partner Hattat, but the newly introduced F series tractors come from  Carraro’s Agritalia operation.

Versatile

The Winnipeg headquarters factory of Buhler Industries in Manitoba, Canada, builds the big four-wheel-drive and Delta Track articulated tractors, using powershift transmissions from Caterpillar’s Peoria plant in the US and Cummins X15 engines from Jamestown, New York.

Zetor

All tractors in the Zetor range have traditionally been built in the company’s Brno factory in the Czech Republic, along with engines and transmissions.

While that remains true for the Proxima and Forterra, the Major and top-end Crystal models also built there now have Deutz engines from Germany. The 43-49hp Perkins-engined Utilix and 68hp Deutz-powered Hortus are sourced from TYM of South Korea.