More than 500,000 success stories: a strong foundation built on experience and future readiness

With around 100,000 DOMINATOR and more than 75,000 LEXION units, these two account for the largest share of the 500,000 CLAAS combine harvesters built to date. SUPER and SUPER AUTOMATIC (approx. 65,000 units), EUROPA and COLUMBUS (together approx. 60,000 combine harvesters) and the TUCANO (approx. 35,000 units) also contributed significant numbers to the global success of the CLAAS combine harvesters. But even series built in smaller numbers, such as the COMMANDOR TERRA TRAC, were drivers of progress that had a significant impact on the genetics of today's CLAAS combine harvesters. Features such as remarkable multi-crop capabilities, unrivalled harvest performance and unparalleled efficiency have been continuously optimised over decades of development for the benefit of customers all over the world and are firmly embedded in the DNA of every new CLAAS combine harvester. However, it's not just these persuasive arguments that make CLAAS combine harvesters ideally prepared for the future; they also feature industry-leading automation and a new level of connectivity.

International network of production expertise

Over the decades, CLAAS has also supplied other manufacturers with combine harvesters. Since 1992, CLAAS combine harvesters have no longer been manufactured exclusively at the Harsewinkel headquarters. That year, the first CLAAS CROP TIGER rolled off the assembly line in India, where more than 10,000 units have now been produced. Since 2001, CLAAS has also been producing LEXION hybrid combine harvesters for the North American market in its own factory in Omaha – in yellow with Caterpillar branding up until 2019.

Since 2013, following the takeover of Jinyee, CLAAS has also been producing combine harvesters and combine harvester components in China. The new DOMINATOR 370 hybrid combine was introduced here in 2019, followed three years later by the DOMINATOR 260 with six walkers. The new EVION, which, like the DOMINATOR 370 and 260, was developed in Harsewinkel, has also been rolling off the production line in Gaomi since 2023.

Another centre of excellence for combine harvester production, Törökszentmiklós in southern Hungary, has been producing cutterbars and corn pickers for CLAAS combine harvesters since 1997. In October 2021, the 100,000th cutterbar for CLAAS was celebrated here.

Automation, assistance and data management: from the throughput control device to CEMOS and CLAAS connect

The remarkable increase in threshing performance since the launch of the first European combine harvester, the MDB, is due not only to advances in hardware and engine performance. Over the last 25 years in particular, automation has become an increasingly important part of further optimisations in efficiency, productivity and work results. CLAAS first began integrating electronic assistance systems into combine harvesters back in 1974 with the introduction of the throughput control device. However, the real game changer proved to be the CEMOS, which was introduced in 2013 and has since won several awards at international trade fairs such as Agritechnica and SIMA: to this day, its functions are still being continuously expanded to include further combine harvester and cutterbar settings, enabling optimal utilisation of the machine for maximum harvesting performance – supported by the unique multi-crop capability of all CLAAS combine harvesters.

CLAAS also pioneered precision farming applications for combine harvesters. From 1991, yield data and GPS position data could be linked with one another – and from 1996, the LEXION even offered yield mapping via AGROCOM MAP followed in 1998 by telemetry-based fleet management via Combine Online. In 2005, LEXION combine harvesters were the first CLAAS products to be equipped with the groundbreaking TELEMATICS. As of October 2024, CLAAS combine harvesters are digitally connected to the rest of the fleet, the farm management system and the CLAAS service and sales partner in the new CLAAS connect, opening a new chapter in the field of digital machine and farm management.

More than a machine – the CLAAS Principle

From the first combine harvester in 1936 until today, CLAAS has provided its customers with comprehensive support. When purchasing a combine harvester from CLAAS, customers expect maximum performance and productivity underpinned by cutting-edge technology and optimal support. A user-friendly operating concept, groundbreaking driver assistance system and close connection to the CLAAS service partner ensures maximum campaign performance and unrivalled lifetime productivity of every CLAAS combine harvester. It is thanks to this future readiness that CLAAS combine harvesters have always remained in use for a very long time – more than five decades in some cases. Extremely low annual depreciation has also contributed to the resounding popularity all CLAAS combine harvester series and models – including used machines.

Modern operator assistance systems such as CEMIS and GPS PILOT are just as important today as the CLAAS MAXI CARE maintenance contracts. And thanks to the wide range of front attachments and low effort required to change between crop types, CLAAS combine harvesters are ideally equipped for every application. Because harvesting calls for speed, versatility and adaptability – as well as the highest level of reliability.

These characteristics are shared by all CLAAS combine harvesters – more than half a million to date. It is the experience of 500,000 success stories spanning almost 90 years of combine harvester production that makes “Made by CLAAS” a promise.

More than 500,000 success stories: CLAAS celebrates half a million combine harvesters