AGCO discontinuing the Challenger?

Since it looks like agco is really starting to push the Fendt brand in North America, and some of the larger tractors are Fendt's painted yellow already, I guess they will have to drop it, as we all know that it is way to expensive too run two paint lines. MF will continue to be the economy brand, and Fendt will be the premiere brand, which it is already.

It’s Agco they will do the most illogical marketing move possible.

bigal121892 wrote: Since it looks like agco is really starting to push the Fendt brand in North America, and some of the larger tractors are Fendt's painted yellow already, I guess they will have to drop it, as we all know that it is way to expensive too run two paint lines. MF will continue to be the economy brand, and Fendt will be the premiere brand, which it is already.

Funny when I worked at Crenlo we run lots of different colored cabs for different companies all on the same paint line.

Never cared for the challenger line anyway. Focus on Massey, something with an actual history.

Last time I checked cat never made a full line of farm equipment. Massey has and still does. Cat was construction equipment. I have a Massey pull type combine and a MF 2745 tractor. Haven’t seen anything like either of those too put out by Challenger until the 2000’s. The track machines were their own animal.
You are correct. Cat has been the leader in THEIR industry, not AG. And MF is one of the leaders world wide for AG.

Edited by Carl(NWWI) - 19 Mar 2020 at 7:47am

For awhile it looked like Massey was going to be the 'global' economy brand. Then for premiere line Fendt was going to be europe and Challenger the US. They were coloring Challengers as Fendts in Europe and the 1000 series Fendts were Challenger in the US. 

Carl(NWWI) wrote: Last time I checked cat never made a full line of farm equipment. Massey has and still does. Cat was construction equipment. I have a Massey pull type combine and a MF 2745 tractor. Haven’t seen anything like either of those too put out by Challenger until the 2000’s. The track machines were their own animal. You are correct. Cat has been the leader in THEIR industry, not AG. And MF is one of the leaders world wide for AG.

Have you ever owned/ran a MF 410/510 combine?? How about a MF corn planter?? There's a reason MF is basically a cuss word "here".

Challengers are like the red headed step child that nobody cares about, including myself. On another note, could the Fendt colors be any more horrid looking? Deutz green with red wheels.  A face only a mother could love.

As long as Agco continues to provide parts my old AC’s, I am very grateful. I hope that they realize the amount of AC tractors that are still in operation and that we want to keep them in use. 35 years after AC’s demise, I can still get parts. There are so many small farmers that either cant afford a new tractor, or don’t want the new technology that is so expensive and difficult to maintain. I realize there are mega farmers out there that need the new technology to be more productive. For me, the reliability our tractors have given us over the years means a lot. Simple, well engineered, reliable. Just hope Agco wont forget the small farmers and keep providing parts even though I will never be able to buy a new one.

AC720Man wrote: As long as Agco continues to provide parts my old AC’s, I am very grateful. I hope that they realize the amount of AC tractors that are still in operation and that we want to keep them in use. 35 years after AC’s demise, I can still get parts. There are so many small farmers that either cant afford a new tractor, or don’t want the new technology that is so expensive and difficult to maintain. I realize there are mega farmers out there that need the new technology to be more productive. For me, the reliability our tractors have given us over the years means a lot. Simple, well engineered, reliable. Just hope Agco wont forget the small farmers and keep providing parts even though I will never be able to buy a new one.

Holt and Best both built ag tractors and combines before their banker forced their partnership that became Caterpillar. They built combines until the mid 30's when they sold them off to John Deere. The crawler tractor was the tillage tractor in the west until the 70's and the big 4x4 tractors. In the 70's Cat wanted back in ag tractors and put out a AG 6 which became the Challengers when the rubber track came into being. Cat had 2 pre  production Challengers running in this area. But just when Cat got into the ag market for real they sold out to AGCO.

AGCO rep at Western Farm Show said they could drop NA market completely and not make a difference in sales. The 1+ billion a year must not mean much. Heck if they kept dealers or got new young ones and sell heritage stuff that 1 could be a 2 or 3 or 4. Give Deere some competition. I dont get how MF is the worlds number one selling tractor with Agcos gross sales of 11 billion compared to JDs 28 billion. Someone better get numbers strait.

The signs are all there for the end of the Challenger wheel tractor line.  You do not see the ads for them like you used too.  I live near one of the Zeigler stores and they have not had one on their lot in a while but are now pushing the Fendt brand and the smaller MF tractors.  The new Ideal combine being badged as a Fendt in the US is a tell tale sign as well.  Im sure the track machine and articulated machines will stay.

They have phased all of the Cat out of the challenger tractor line already.     The MT765C was the last tracked machine that had any cat modules on it, but they had already added HUSCO valves to the remotes which are a constant battle. The MT765D although having a Sisu engine is still a cat design from the flywheel back. The new cvt tracked Challengers are in no way influenced by their caterpillar history and are proving to be a mistake if you ask me. When it comes to tracks, Caterpillar is the pioneer and Deere certainly can’t build a tracked machine Ag or construction. When it comes to an engine, although I have a love for Allis tractors, my opinion is Cat has been in the engine game for a long time and knows how to make an engine. I have a 65A, 65E, 55, and a 765B that I actually traded a 765C in on to go back to cat electronics. I am a bit bias towards the challenger line. Massey Ferguson may have a longer history, but they never made a tractor that was really great. Did they ever even use their own engine in anything? I don’t think they are anymore deserving of having their paint and decals on Agcos tractor than challenger. Why don’t they call them an “AGCO”? Isn’t that who they are? Whether it be orange, red, yellow or any other color.
The wheel tractors on the challenger line already off the get go had Cummins engines. That says in itself that Cat had no pull there. I don’t have any knowledge of the Fendt tractor, but I do think they have a better chance at having something there with a wheel tractor.