Claas increased its revenue in the 2021 fiscal year by 19% to $5,430.4 billion (previous year: $4,575.3 billion). Pre-tax earnings rose to $404.1 million (previous year: $178.9 million).

“Claas managed to achieve growth despite the supply-side bottlenecks and the pandemic. We even registered a double-digit rise in revenue and a significant improvement in profitability across all world regions”, said Thomas Böck, chair of the Claas Group Executive Board.

The drivers of last year’s growth in North America and Eastern Europe have been joined by the core markets in Western and Central Europe, including Germany and France, which are important for Claas. The United Kingdom also experienced major growth, despite the significant uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

Spending on Research & Development at a Record Level

Expenditure on research and development set a new record with $296.6 million (previous year: $268.3 million). Investments in innovative electronic architectures and the digitization of agricultural processes remained important focus areas.

Investments in fixed assets totaling $156.2 million (previous year: $148.3 million) continued at a high level. In Le Mans, the Future Factory for tractors was reopened in May following an extensive conversion. There was an almost seamless transition from the official completion to the second phase of modernizing the combine harvester production facilities in Harsewinkel, which has since been brought to a successful conclusion. Over 161,000 square feet of production space was completely refurbished in just 5 months. State-of-the-art AGV transport systems are now used in the production areas of both factories, increasing both flexibility and…