The three top selling brands in the Republic of Ireland in 2020 were John Deere (21.99%), Massey Ferguson (20.31%) and New Holland (18.22%), according to figures from the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA).

The trio accounted for 60.52% of all tractor sales, or a total of 1,156 tractors of the 1,910 units registered in 2020.

If we compare this to the previous year (2019), John Deere also led the way with a 21% share, followed closely by Massey Ferguson (20%) and New Holland (17%).

From 2019 to 2020, New Holland achieved the highest growth in market share, albeit only being 1.2%. In the same period, John Deere, Valtra, Fendt and Zetor also grew their respective market shares. Smaller growth was also witnessed by Massey Ferguson and SDF.

Claas took the biggest hit in market share from 2019 to 2020, with a 3% reduction in its slice of the pie. Meanwhile, other brands such as Case IH, Kubota, JCB, and McCormick all also witnessed a small reduction in their market shares.

The UK

Meanwhile UK data (which includes Northern Ireland’s figures) from the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) shows that the top three most popular brands are the same, except there is a bigger gulf between each.

Once again, John Deere (26%) leads the way, but this time followed by New Holland (18%), with Massey Ferguson (13%) falling into third position. The top three manufacturers accounted for 57% of all tractor sales, or a total of 6,803 tractors of the 11,935 units registered in 2020.

Fourth position was held by Case IH with a 9% share, followed by Fendt (8%), Kubota (7%), Valtra (5%) and Claas (4%).

EU competition law

On competition grounds, trade bodies such as the FTMTA or the AEA are not allowed to release data on what brands sold X amount of new tractors until a one-year period has passed. This is due to EU competition law restrictions. Thus, 2021 market share figures won’t be released by such trade bodies until early 2023.