After the sharp decline recorded between 2023 and 2024, the 2024/2025 season also ended negatively for combine harvester registrations. In terms of volumes, they reached their lowest level in ten years with only 229 registrations.
Forage harvester registrations, however, increased slightly, although characterised by minimal volumes.
The decline that has characterized the market for large harvesters for the past two seasons is slowing, but not stopping. Combine harvesters. While the 2023/2024 season ended with a veritable collapse, with 275 registrations compared to the previous season’s 407, the 2024/2025 season also failed to deliver much success for manufacturers, with registrations stagnating at 229 machines. This is a decline of over 16 percentage points, much lower than the 32.4% decline that closed the 2023/24 period, but still in double-digit figures and, what’s worse, representing the lowest registration volume ever recorded by the sector in the last ten years.
The government’s aid package, which was once again responsible for this situation, was implemented between 2020 and 2023 to overcome the challenges induced by the Covid epidemic that swept across Europe.
The incentives were so substantial that they encouraged even those who, in normal times, would have delegated their harvesting to contractors to purchase. Once the good times were over, companies put their wallets back in their pockets, where they are likely to remain for the rest of this season. Considering that leases cover three to five years, there shouldn’t be any significant rebounds. They would be happy, of course, if this forecast were wrong.
As always happens in these situations, the two industry leaders were the ones who bore the brunt of the decline in registrations, with Claas losing 18 machines and New Holland losing 16. However, both managed to limit the damage in terms of market share, a metric that instead benefited the only brand that ended the period with growth, John Deere.
It’s worth noting that for once, registrations virtually matched sales, with the latter also expected to have settled at around 230 machines. The forage harvester segment fared better. Volumes are growing, even though only a handful of machines were sold, eight more than in the previous season. Claas and New Holland are benefiting, with the former consolidating its overall leadership and the latter enjoying returns from the launch of its new models. Fendt also performed well, while John Deere and Krone declined.
Title: Combine harvesters and forage harvesters registered 2024/2025: difficult season
Translation with Google
