New Models and New Colours for McCormick Tractors
06/06/07

New tractors and a new colour scheme being unveiled at this year’s Cereals 2007 event (13th/14th June, Royston, Cambridgeshire) heralds a new era for McCormick Tractors International and its Doncaster-built products.

Production transfer
McCormick plans to complete transfer of production of current McCormick CX, MC, MTX, XTX and ZTX tractors to the Italian factories of its parent, the ARGO Group, during the course of this year, with assembly of current XTX models scheduled to continue at Doncaster through to the autumn.

The transfer is part of a restructuring process that will enable McCormick to tap fully into the resources of one of the world’s largest tractor manufacturers.

“While it is sad to see the end of tractor assembly at Doncaster after a long and distinguished history, the advantages of moving production to other ARGO Group plants are compelling,” says Jeremy Lamb, UK sales director. “Economies of scale are crucial in this business and with ARGO factories already producing more than 22,000 tractors a year, McCormick will benefit from significant cost-savings and access to resources that will strengthen its competitive position and future prospects.”

Factory flat-out
The enthusiasm for McCormick’s UK-built tractors among farmers and contractors is such that the Doncaster plant is working flat out to meet advance orders from dealers and customers in Britain and overseas.

At the same time, UK sales of McCormick tractors already built in ARGO’s Italian facilities – the GM groundcare models, F Series fruit tractors and C-Max utility farm tractors – continue to grow as more farmers come to appreciate their tough build and versatile specifications.

“The same build philosophy and care over quality control that goes into these tractors will be evident once customers start to take delivery of the bigger McCormick models from the Italian factory,” says Jeremy Lamb. “Production of the top-selling McCormick CX is already under way and the other models will be added to the assembly line progressively to maintain quality standards.”

New colours
The new colour scheme that reflects this important chapter in the McCormick story retains the familiar red bodywork and silver wheels and radiator grille. But the chassis changes to charcoal grey with redesigned graphics contributing to the fresh new look.

Apart from being used on all current McCormick designs, the new colours – as well as a different bonnet design – will highlight two new models, the XTX145 and XTX165.

New XTX models
The XTX145’s six-cylinder McCormick BetaPower engine develops 145hp for draft work and up to 156hp for pto and transport operations. The same engine in the XTX165 produces 167hp for draft work and up to 171hp for pto/transport. These power outputs pitch the tractors into one of the most popular and fastest growing sectors of the UK tractor market.

“The newcomers are smaller and lighter and have a shorter wheelbase than the current XTX models but have the same advanced engine, transmission, hydraulics and cab features,” notes Jeremy Lamb. “They represent a higher-specification alternative to the popular McCormick MTX120, MTX135 and MTX150 tractors, which remain in production.”

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