CLAAS

What they do

CLAAS designs and builds agricultural machinery. Its best-known products are combine harvesters and self-propelled forage harvesters, complemented by tractors, balers, mowers, telehandlers and digital tools that help farmers plan and document fieldwork.

August Claas founded the company in Harsewinkel, in the Münsterland area of North Rhine-Westphalia, in 1913. The family's engineering roots go back further to the production of farm equipment in the late 19th century. CLAAS remains a family business, organised as a GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Why it matters

Harvest time is short and weather-dependent, so the speed and reliability of a combine directly affect a farm's income. CLAAS built its reputation on harvesting machines, and combines remain the heart of its range.

Modern farming faces fewer workers, larger fields and pressure to reduce fuel use and soil compaction. CLAAS's response combines more powerful machines with automation, steering systems and data services, turning a harvester into a sensor-laden, partly self-driving platform.

Products to know

• LEXION: the flagship series of large combine harvesters.
• TRION and EVION: combine ranges covering mid-sized and smaller farms.
• JAGUAR: self-propelled forage harvesters for silage and biogas crops.
• AXION and XERION: high-horsepower tractors, the XERION with a distinctive cab design.

The German angle

CLAAS is rooted in the rural Münsterland, a farming and manufacturing region in Westphalia where it remains closely tied to its home town. Its main development and production of harvesting machines stay in Harsewinkel.

Family ownership has allowed the company to follow long product cycles in a market where machines are expected to last for many seasons. Day-to-day management lies with professional executives, led since 2023 by chief executive Jan-Hendrik Mohr, while ownership stays with the family, a typical arrangement for large German family firms.