I don’t spend much time in a tractor or combine these days – it’s the four-wheel drive where I glean most of my metal-clad experience, and I think I’ve found the vehicle I always wanted.
It’s a Landrover Discovery Sport. Over the years, we’ve wavered between Freelander and Discovery, with the occasional Defender, but tended to stick with the brand. Landrover’s had a bit of a shake up with its model range, and for me the Discovery Sport ticks the boxes quite nicely.
But, as is quite typical of the brand, it’s had its teething problems, and I spent most of the summer without my new-found friend as it dipped in and out of the local dealership. To be fair, they were brilliant, and ensured I had an equivalent model to keep me on road and track. To my surprise, the last of these was a Jaguar F-Pace.
Even more interesting is the similarity between the models – the external and internal styling’s different, but the controls are identical and there’s similar technology on both. Moving from one to the other is a seamless experience. Turn over the engine, however, and the growl tells you which brand you’re in, while it does handle with distinct differences.
There’s some clear synergy between the brands that have come together now that the two are under the same banner. But they’ve kept their identity, and retained the differences under the bonnet (and with the price tag). So when it comes to trading in my Discovery Sport, how would I feel if I was offered a hybrid of the two?
That’s exactly what AGCO has done with its combine harvesters (see article). The wraps finally came off its much-awaited new top-end rotary range this month, and it’s a common platform – only a chrome badge will distinguish the Ideal from Massey Ferguson and the Fendt Ideal.
Before you even delve into the detail, there is one elephant in the room to tackle here: If you’re an MF user you’d worry you’d be paying the Fendt premium, while those loyal to Fendt would worry whether the technology and engineering edge had been compromised.
It’s a quandary that’s plainly been debated pretty closely within AGCO over the five-year development of this single combine platform. There are clear benefits: AGCO says it started with a clean sheet of paper, went to its customers and dealers, across the brands and across the world, and asked what combine they wanted. They then cherry-picked components and engineering expertise from across the business to build exactly that. Make no mistake – on paper this is a very impressive machine.
But will it sell? In truth, AGCO doesn’t have a large share of the European combine market. In the UK, it’s thought to be well into single percentage figures, sitting some way below nearly all the major players. This suggests the AGCO brands have struggled to find a combine package that appeals, despite holding over 20% of the tractor market between them.
With combines, there’s a lot that comes down to product support, and for many growers, it’s the knowledge they’ll suffer minimum downtime that is the single most important driver when making this massive purchasing decision. AGCO has some impressive claims on this point, and its new proactive support centre, set to open in the New Year, may yet add an extra layer that delivers an even smoother harvest.
But with a $200 million development cost behind it, AGCO will need to occupy more than single percentage points of the world’s combine markets to get a decent return on investment. While that’s a gamble for AGCO, though, it’s also reassuring for its customers, and a head-turner for prospects, that some serious resource has been put behind this bold step – AGCO needs this single platform to work. One MF source told me that early adopters of the Ideal combine would probably receive a level of back-up and support you wouldn’t dream of getting on any other machine to ensure the introduction of this single platform is a smooth one.
And so, whether this truly is the new-generation, step-up in harvesting technology AGCO claims will depend squarely on how it’s received by farmers. As for me, I enjoyed my time with the F-Pace, but was happy to surrender the keys and get the Discovery Sport back. Would I go for a cross between the two? I’d definitely take it for a test drive and keep an open mind.
Seeing RED
Were you aware that for a three-week period in Aug, most rapeseed moved off farm wasn’t covered for the strict protocols required for inclusion in biofuels across Europe? Approval for Red Tractor Assurance, that demonstrates compliance with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) expired on 6 Aug. Despite fervent efforts applied to renew it, everyone in the EC went on holiday with the paperwork still sitting in someone’s in-tray.
With Brexit looming, it may not be the high-tier trade agreements, nor even phyto-sanitary requirements that will prove the UK’s biggest challenges when dealing with Europe. It’ll be the sheer incompetence of the pencil-pushing blotter-jotters in Brussels.
