In a year which saw a new Deutz-Fahr factory open in Lauingen, Germany, along with the advent of new assembly lines and a new painting plant in Treviglio, Italy, SDF (Same Deutz-Fahr) recorded a turnover of €1.325 billion in 2017.

While substantial, this figure was 3% lower than that of the previous year (2016).

The transition to the new facilities did affect production capacity up to April (2017), but SDF says that it was “still able to maintain its turnover and profitability in line with recent years”.

Different markets

In a generally stable European market, with the Mediterranean countries showing signs of being more active, SDF reported growth of 2.3%.

On the other hand, 2017 proved to be a difficult year for business operations in China and Turkey due to “external factors, that had a negative impact on the contribution of these markets to the group’s consolidated result”. There, SDF recorded a 6% decrease in turnover.

In China, the reduction in government subsidies generated a market drop of more than 30%. In Turkey, in January 2017, protectionist measures were introduced that impacted “severely” on SDF’s sales margins and volumes.

“Very good results” were achieved by the subsidiary in India, which closed 2017 with a 75% increase in units sold compared to the previous year.

In a harvester market which apparently declined 8%, Deutz-Fahr combines enjoyed 11% sales growth.

Investing money

Total investments in 2017 amounted to €70 million. Of this, the most significant items were €23 million for the development of new products, €15 million to complete the construction of the new plant (and the customer centre) in Lauingen and €7 million to complete the last phase of renewing the assembly lines in Treviglio.

SDF

The new Deutz-Fahr factory in Lauingen, Germany

“2017 for us,” explained Lodovico Bussolati, SDF chief executive officer, “was perhaps the most important year in the recent past in terms of change and consolidation.

“Considering the initial difficulties, we reacted with determination with changes that allowed us to achieve higher results in the second half of the year compared to the same period of the previous year. We closed the year with [overall] figures near those of 2016.”