|
: I'm looking for a history of the company itself, including when and where it was founded, the higbhlights of its history (i.e. was it the world's 2nd, 3rd, 4th largest tractor manufacturer?), when it was broken up. Thanks very much; this info will be passed on to an enthusiast in Germany Massey-Harris and Ferguson merged in 1953 and became Massey-Harris-Ferguson. Both had production facilities in North America and Europe. In 1956 the manufacturing facilities of M-H-F GmbH were established at Eschwefe, Germany. In 1957 the name was changed to Massey Ferguson Ltd. In 1959 Perkins Engine Co. of Peterborough, England was purchased. In 1968 MF entered the snowmobile market with the Ski Whiz. Eicher GmbH of Germany which MF had an interest in, developed the MF 132 vineyard tractor.In 1974 the Hanomag construction machiney division of Rheinstahl A.G., West Germany was acquired. In 1980 Hanomag was sold to IBH Holding A.G. of Mainz, West Germany. MF continued to supply components to IBH. In 1981 MF was saved from bankruptcy by a refinancing deal. In 1986 the name of the company was changed form MF Ltd. to Varity Corporation. The MF name continued to be used by the farm machinery division. In 1991 AGCO Corporation purchased the MF North American distribution and parts business. In 1992 the industrials divisions was sold to FERMEC. FERMEC arranged to use the MF name for ten years. In 1994 Varity Corporation sold the remaining MF worldwide manufacturing and distribution business AGCO. The Perkins Company remained with Varity Corp. In 1996 FERMEC (MF industrial product range) was purchased by Case, the use of the MF name for industrial products was discountinued. The Massey Ferguson name has become a brandmark of AGCO Corporation of Deluth, Georgia.
This info and much more can be found in The Massey Legacy , Volume One, By John Farnworth, ISBN 0 85236 403 2
|
