Mannheim tractor factory celebrates production milestone

Eighty-one years after the unveiling of the 12-hp Lanz-Bulldog, the first crude oil tractor worldwide, the Mannheim tractor factory has produced its 1,250,000th machine, an 86-hp John Deere four-cylinder 6220 tractor.

The milestone tractor now belongs to Dieter and Lionel Mallet, brothers from Moulins, France. Hannes Kremkau, general manager of John Deere Werke Mannheim presented the tractor to the brothers.

The Mallet brothers jointly own a 180-hectare (444.79-acre) farm with livestock, cereal, and wine production. They have been customers of John Deere Werke Mannheim since 1970 and have invested in almost every series of Mannheim tractors since then.

Today John Deere Werke Mannheim's products don't have much in common with their forefather, the one cylinder bulldog. The new 6020 series generation machines feature quiet emission controlled John Deere four and six cylinder engines, suspended front axles, cab suspension, and electronically controlled stepless and shift transmissions for optimum power conversion.

After Deere & Company's acquisition of the majority of Heinrich Lanz shares in 1956, the Bulldog era came to an end with the delivery of the 219,000th Lanz tractor. In 1960, the first John Deere tractor models rolled off the Mannheim assembly line.

Until the presentation of the latest 6020 series in Seville, Spain, last September, seven tractor generations were unveiled in Mannheim. These include a number of innovations such as the first integrated tractor cab in 1974, a special front-wheel drive that featured a 13-degree caster angle, and the full-frame tractor concept introduced in 1992 that allows the flexible adaptation of the platform to a wide variety of market requirements. Another milestone was the assembly of the 1,000,000th Mannheim tractor in September 1993, which is on display in the company's historic tractor collection.

The new level of flexibility gained with the full-frame concept has significantly increased the demand for Mannheim tractors. Despite weak markets worldwide, tractor production has increased significantly in recent years. While Mannheim assembled 21,200 machines (seven different models from 75 to 130-hp) in 1993, the factory's assembly line released 31,500 units (10 models from 80 to 166-hp) in 2001. Currently, the Mannheim factory delivers tractors to more than 90 countries, world wide accounting for approximately four-fifths of the German tractor exports.

"Our business success is the result of significant investments in Mannheim into the development of new products. We have invested significant amounts into the modernization of our factory and into product development over the past three years," says Kremkau.

Meanwhile, John Deere tractors have not only acquired market leadership positions in key European markets including Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, they are also enjoying significant market shares in the Central European markets Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.