AGCO has changed the branding on its Challenger machines – they will now be integrated exclusively into the Fendt stable in the Europe and Middle East sales region.

They will still be badged as Challenger products in North America, South America, and in the Asia-Pacific/African regions.

Part of the deal includes relocating production of Challenger products from AGCO’s Grubbenvorst factory in the Netherlands, to its Hohenmölsen production site in Germany, where trailed sprayers and the Fendt Katana forage harvesters are built. Research and development and other key functions remain in Grubbenvorst.

This means that Fendt dealers in Western and Central Europe will be able to offer and sell the newly badged track tractors and sprayers following Agritechnica 2017, with delivery of the first machines to end customers is planned for Q1 2018.

“Integration of the Challenger products into the Fendt product programme in Europe is another important step forward, and is in keeping with the Fendt full line strategy,” said Peter-Josef Paffen, the AGCO/Fendt CEO.

“The broad product portfolio is designed to offer our customers and dealers a virtually complete and complementary range of machines, for nowadays, professional agricultural enterprises and contractors demand a wide range of high-quality, high-performance products.

“This is because machines today are highly complex and will be able to communicate even more closely with each another in future through networking systems.”