CLAAS milestones
If it hadn't been for the legendary "knotter", the history of CLAAS might well have been very different. Join us on a tour through the last century – following in the tracks of the knotter right up to today's LEXION – the world's most powerful combine harvester.
1913 – 1929: It all began with a knotter
It all began with the knotter – the technical reliability of the CLAAS knotter made the straw binder into a real quality product, and resulted in a rapid surge in demand for sturdy and robust straw binders from Westphalia. The foundations had been laid for the later success of the company.
1930 – 1945: The combine harvester revolutionised harvesting
Driven by the vision of developing a combine harvester that was adapted to European harvesting conditions, the youthful company developed the first prototypes, and in 1936 unveiled Europe's first fully operational combine harvester to the public.
1946 – 1969: Expansion to become a combine harvester specialist
SUPER, EUROPA and MATADOR are just some of the names that marked the rise of CLAAS to become a combine harvester specialist. At a very early stage, the company identified the trend in western European farming towards ever-larger areas, and energetically drove forward the development of new, powerful models of combines.
1970 – 2002: CLAAS – the harvesting specialist
CLAAS became a harvesting specialist with the start of production of forage harvesters and its entry into the green fodder harvesting segment.
2003 – 2013: Growth in the era of globalisation
With the acquisition of Renault Agriculture in 2003, CLAAS expanded its product portfolio to include tractors, and now offered a complete harvesting chain to meet the needs of modern farming.
