CNH Industrial has entered into a long-term global marketing agreement with Canadian firm MacDon Industries for this company to manufacture co-branded draper headers for Case IH and New Holland combines. The headers will be available to order next year for delivery for the 2023 season.
We received the news by means of short separate press releases from Case IH and New Holland. However, other than a couple of quotes from top brass there were no other details. Keen to put some meat on the bones, we contacted general manager Benedikt von Riedesel of Wiesbaden-based (Germany) MacDon Europe.
We can confirm the agreement is of a marketing nature. It is not an OEM deal. Also, it is not exclusive and the agreement with CNHI does not include other MacDon products, such as corn headers and windrowers. It is business as usual for MacDon’s existing European dealer network, and the Canadian company will continue to manufacture and distribute its full line of combine draper headers under the MacDon brand to all its dealers and customers for all major combine brands around the world.
Under the marketing agreement with CNHI, MacDon will be the exclusive supplier of draper heads to both Case IH and New Holland, which will distribute them via the two dealer networks worldwide, with the exception of South America.
All interested CNHI dealers that want to sell draper headers will have to apply to become a MacDon dealer. Providing the application process is successful, dealers will have access to MacDon draper headers with Case IH or New Holland branding.
“If a Case IH or New Holland dealer wants to sell a draper header from 2023 it will be made by MacDon and branded as a Case IH or New Holland unit,” comments Mr von Riedesel. All headers will continue to be ordered directly through MacDon, which will be responsible for product support, spare parts distribution and pricing.
The marketing deal is so fresh that the design and colour-scheme of the headers has not yet been finalised. However, we can imagine that the side panels will be painted in Case IH or New Holland colours, and could be finished with ‘Case IH by MacDon’ or ‘New Holland by MacDon’ signage.
What we can confirm is that the planned co-branded models will be based on the new FD2 draper headers made at the MacDon facility in Winnipeg, Canada. The range comprises widths of 9.1m, 10.7m, 12.5m, 13.7m and 15.2m, some of which were demonstrated in the UK this year.
The current FD1 series includes a 7.6m model whereas the smallest width in the new FD2 range is 9.1m. There is nothing official, but we can imagine a smaller width could come at some point.
10.7m was the popular choice of draper header in 2019. There is still a healthy market for a 9.0m version, but 2020 saw more of a move to 12.0m units, a trend that continued this season. It is not just working widths that are increasing. So too are the numbers and draper headers continue to account for a larger share of the total European combine header market.
Precise figures are off limits, but the numbers are believed to have reached double digit levels in 2020. “We expect the numbers to have increased significantly this year,” adds Mr von Riedesel.
That draper header popularity has grown rapidly in Europe during the past few years is evident by MacDon Europe staff numbers, which have increased from two when the company was founded in 2017 to 14 today. The top three markets are France, Germany and the UK, but large combines are also found in Eastern Europe, where the focus could be on Poland, Romania and the Ukraine.
More FD2 information:
