Fendt reaches projected target for 2021 in Brazil in 2024

With great acceptance in the Brazilian market, in 2021 Fendt reached the target projected for 2024 and accelerated the expansion of its dealerships across the territory, with the opening of new stores and expansion of the portfolio

What catches your attention most when you see an imposing tractor, with 540 hp of power, full of displays, modern keyboards and buttons, xenon headlights, high-floating double wheels and with a lot of onboard technology? Possibly, the most heard answer could be something like “beauty, technology, robustness”. But, although these characteristics describe Fendt Series 1000 Vario tractors very well, they are not the only ones or the most important for the owners of these giants. What really makes the eyes of the producers we spoke to shine is the fuel economy that the series offers, when compared to other tractors with the same power.

Fendt is touring the main producing regions of the Brazilian Cerrado, with a traveling event called the Fendt Road Show, in different municipalities where the brand has or is in the process of establishing dealerships. With a customized trailer and machines on static display, the event welcomes producers who can learn in detail about each of the models sold by Fendt, in addition to simulating negotiations or even closing deals. And it was at one of these stages, in the city of Nova Mutum (MT), that we had the opportunity to meet two owners of machines sold by the brand.

On the 900-hectare Metamac farm, where the Nova Mutum Fendt Road Show took place, owner Sebastião Tomaz dos Santos, with a calm and welcoming expression, received visitors and the press, with whom he shared his experiences on his Fendt 1046 Vario tractor. , with 478 hp of power. Acquired at the end of 2020, the model replaced a 350hp tractor, from another brand, to pull the plow harrow, subsoiler and a 26-row seeder, when planting soybeans and corn. According to him, the combination of engine and transmission technologies provides fuel savings of 20% when compared to other tractors used in the same activities. The 27-row seeder is smaller than the tractor could easily pull, but as it works with precision agriculture, the planting activity requires an extra dose of power per planting line. “As we apply fertilizer in the row, use furrowers and apply microgel when planting, the seeder we use requires 15 hp of power per row, compared to 9 hp per row that other types of planting require”, he explains. In addition to the tractor, Sebastião has already purchased a Fendt Ideal harvester, which will arrive for harvesting the summer crop.

Also located in Nova Mutum, Fazenda Palotina, part of the Costa Beber Agro group, has a complete fleet of Fendt products: a 38-row Momentum seeder, a 1050hp Fendt 517 Vario tractor, and two harvesters, Ideal 8 and Ideal 9. Sinar Costa Beber manages four thousand hectares, where he plants soybeans together with his father, son and daughter-in-law. When asked about the advantages of the 1050 Vario tractor in relation to the models he previously owned, the answer is direct and objective: “Fuel savings and onboard technology. So much so that I am going to replace the other two tractors in the fleet and keep three of the Fendt brand”, he explains.

Purchased in March 2021, the Ideal 8 and Ideal 9 harvesters were used to harvest the entire summer crop. According to Costa Beber, they also had superior performance when compared to machines used in other harvests. “The whole set is superior: we use a 50-foot platform and the engine can absorb any amount of product without losing power. And the bulk carrier has more capacity than any other machine,” he explains.

PROXIMITY TO THE CUSTOMER

These reports help to illustrate the success of this Fendt take-off in Brazil, since it opened its first store in Sorriso (MT), in the first quarter of 2019. Without revealing numbers, the commercial director for Latin America, José Galli, guarantees that the The target projected for 2024 was already exceeded in 2021, showing the receptivity of Brazilian producers to the machines sold by the company. “We have products completely designed for Brazil, such as the Ideal harvesters and the Momentum seeder, which fit very well into the reality of our crops. And projects like the Fendt 1000 Vario Series tractors that were designed for the globalization of the brand and that adapt very well to needs such as those found in North America and Latin America”, he explains.

From 2019 to date, the brand has already expanded its business in Brazil with four economic groups and five stores. Currently, the five concessionaires already serve the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia, Piauí, Maranhão and Goiás, and others are in an advanced phase of implementation in the states of Pará and Tocantins. In addition to the Cerrado, Fendt is in an advanced stage of negotiations for concessionaires in Rio Grande do Sul and, later, Paraná and São Paulo.

To enable this expansion beyond the Cerrado, the brand is also working on expanding its product portfolio. According to Fendt's ambassador in Brazil, Felix Glas, the partnership between factory, dealer and producer is an important part of the brand's success. “Our three pillars are quality products, identification with the brand and partnership between factory, producers and dealers. And it is this partnership that will enable us to develop new products that meet customer needs”, he guarantees.

FENDT 1000 VARIO

Launched in 2015 in Europe, the Vario line tractors won awards in more than six different countries on that continent. In addition to titles for technical innovations, the Fendt 1000 Vario line has won design awards. In Munich, Germany, he won the iF Design Award Gold 2016 for his “well thought out design”. There was also another German recognition, the Red Dot for Product Design 2016, for the integration between functionality and design.

The Fendt 1000 Vario tractors have engines between 476hp and 517hp of power, Fendt Vario Drive (CVT) transmission, which allows operation to always be carried out at the ideal speed, without shifting gears, and independently drives the front and rear axles, without operator intervention. In practice, with this technology, torque and power are distributed electronically to the axle that is pulling.

A distinguishing feature of the 1000 Vario Series is its engine-independent ventilation system. In addition to having a variable rotation that adjusts according to the ambient temperature, the system works in reverse mode, cleaning the entire front grille, an important item for working conditions in Brazil.

The Fendt 1000 Vario always operates in the maximum torque range for the lowest specific fuel consumption.

The low rpm concept of the Fendt iD engine results in permanently low fuel consumption and longer service intervals. The engine speed range of the Fendt 1000 Vario varies between 650rpm and 1.700rpm. In the main working range, rotations vary between 1.100rpm and 1.600rpm. The engine in the Fendt 1050 Vario guarantees 2.400Nm of torque at 1.100rpm.

IDEAL HARVESTERS

The Fendt Ideal harvester line is one of the brand's highlights. With three models, Ideal 7, Ideal 8 and Ideal 9, and engines of 458hp, 545hp and 656hp, the series is equipped with the Ideal Balance system, a double grain tray that ensures that only the clean harvest is collected, offers greater power, performance and comfort. According to the brand, the machine guarantees up to 15% more operational efficiency, allowing the harvest to finish a week in advance; 20% savings in fuel consumption; 25% increase in grain quality; and up to 30% loss reduction.

The harvester has an exclusive separation and helical track system and the longest rotor ever used in a harvester, measuring 4,84m in length and 600mm in diameter. The bulk carrier is the largest grain tank on the world market, with a capacity of 17.100 liters, 18% more than other current high-performance machinery. Discharge performance is also the fastest available, at 210L/s (32% faster than the nearest competitor), which is decisive for an efficient harvest chain.

It also offers real-time access to data, ensuring that the operator knows what is happening with the machine, making it possible to obtain grains with the best cleanliness and quality possible, minimizing losses.

MOMENTUM SEEDER

Fendt Momentum seeders are sold in models with 30 and 40 rows, at 45cm spacing, and can also be configured at 50cm spacing, with the reduction of two rows in their nominal model. Furthermore, these models are offered in Seeds and Seeds & Fertilizers versions.

This series features systems such as the Fendt Smart Frame, which reads the position of the lines and automatically levels the line chassis so that they are always in the best working position, and DeltaForce, which controls and changes the pressure applied to the soil by the planting lines, causing all seeds to be deposited at the same depth.

Momentum comes equipped with a package of Precision Planting technologies for planting control, such as the vSet2 pneumatic doser, which can achieve up to 99% singulation when planting corn, and the vDrive, an electric motor that eliminates chains and transmission cables and which is also responsible for the variable seed rate, curve compensation and line-by-line cutting, which increases productivity by 16% in overlapping areas.

Planting control and monitoring is carried out by the 20|20 SeedSense Monitor, responsible for the interface with the operator, a real-time X-ray of the planting allowing the operator to intervene at any time. In transport position, the seeder is 3,6 meters long.