Press releases

The CLAAS production plant in Harsewinkel has celebrated the manufacture of its 450,000th combine harvester, a LEXION that is earmarked for the North American market. Shareholders, members of the Management and 350 employees gathered together in Harsewinkel to celebrate this production milestone.

CLAAS is celebrating its centenary in 2013 and the international agricultural machinery manufacturer from Harsewinkel in Westphalia, which employs some 9,000 peopleworld-wide, is taking this opportunity to look to the future.

GPS-controlled steering systems, whether manual or automatic, have now become commonplace in agricultural applications. Anyone who has ever used a system of this kind is always reluctant to give it up afterwards and every machine operator generally comes across an automatic steering system sooner or later.

2003, the French group, Renault, and the German family-run group, CLAAS, decided to form a strategic alliance in the agricultural machinery sector. The objectives put forward by both groups were complementary; one was wanting to concentrate on its core activity, cars, whilst the other was aiming to expand its range of harvesting products to include tractors as part of a strategy of market exclusivity.

Two years ago at the SIMA 2011 trade fair, CLAAS presented a completely new development and design philosophy in tractor manufacturing in the form of the AXION 900. At this year's SIMA trade fair, CLAAS will present another new model series, the AXION 800.