The Fendt 942 Vario was named tractor of the year on Sunday 10 November at Agritechnica in Hanover.

This is the sixth time the manufacturer has won the award. The new 942 is the first of the series to break the 400hp barrier. It is fitted with a six-cylinder 9l MAN engine, which Fendt says has been built specifically to comply with Stage V emission regulations.

The engine benefits from the firm’s Fendt iD low-speed concept. This allows the MAN power plant to idle at just 650rpm, with 1,700rpm being the latter end of the scale. This allows it deliver maximum torque at a low rpm.

The 942 Vario was chosen from a shortlist of five tractors. The others included the Case IH Magnum 380 CVX Drive, Claas Axion 960 Terra Trac, McCormick X7.624 VT Drive and Valtra N 154e Versu.

The jury for the competition is made up of 25 agricultural machinery journalists from 24 countries.

Three other awards were up for grabs – best utility, best specialised tractor and, for the first time, sustainable tractor of the year.

New Holland was awarded sustainable tractor of the year for its methane power concept. FPT Industrial has specifically developed a methane-fuelled engine which delivers the same power and torque as a diesel equivalent, confirming that we will soon see methane power become a reality in our fields. Best specialised tractor was also awarded to New Holland for its Italian-built T4.110N. The other three finalists were also Italian built.

Fendt took home a second award, this time in the best utility, category for its 314 Vario Profi + model. The other four finalists in this category were the Kubota M4072, New Holland T5.140 Dynamic Command, Steyr 4130 Expert CVT and the Valtra A 114 HiTech 4.