Dutch publication Mechaman.nl reports that CNH Industrial, the parent company of Case IH and New Holland, intends to make its tractor brands more different from one another.

According to the Dutch outlet, the comments were made by CNH Industrial’s chief executive officer (CEO) Hubertus Muhlhauser (pictured below). Since his appointment, he has apparently been spearheading a new strategic plan.

Mechaman.nl quoted Muhlhauser as saying that CNH Industrial was seeking to grow externally (by acquiring other companies – presumably including manufacturers of machines that could plug gaps in CNH Industrial’s existing product portfolio).

Such developments might, for example, see the advent of more Case IH branded equipment, following the recent arrival of a plethora of additional New Holland badged machinery (courtesy of the take-over of Kongskilde).

Most notably, the aforementioned strategic plan will also seek to create “greater differentiation” between the New Holland, Case IH and Steyr tractor brands – not only in appearance but also in technology.

Ex AGCO employee

Hubertus Muhlhauser was appointed as the CEO of CNH Industrial last September. He is based at CNH’s Burr Ridge office in Chicago (US).

He joined the company from Welbilt Inc, where he was director, president and CEO since 2015.

It was prior to this that he worked at AGCO Corporation, heading its EMEA and Asia region businesses (as well as its global engine division). He also held the position of senior vice president of Strategy and Integration at AGCO.

AGCO is best known here in Ireland via brands such as Massey Ferguson, Valtra and Fendt.

According to CNH, Muhlhauser brings “extensive leadership experience at multi-national industrial companies, a deep knowledge of the agriculture and construction sectors as well as strategic expertise”.