It is with great excitement that AGCO, Your Agriculture Company announces the first group of Fendt dealers on the continent, spread across the diverse agricultural landscape of South Africa. Dealer proposals rolled in soon after an expression of interest notice was published in October 2020, inviting all investors with an appreciation of the engineering mastery, innovation implementation and service leadership of the Fendt brand. This was an essential phase in AGCO’s New Way Forward strategy to draw closer to customers in the region.

The selection criteria for AGCO‘s Fendt dealer candidates is based on a global Fendt standard which goes beyond the capital investment into the bricks and mortar. The prospective agri-business had to demonstrate a willingness to live the Fendt brand promise of efficiency and dedication.

This should give South African farmers the assurance that as owners of Fendt machines they are backed by the same superior product knowledge and well-trained sales and aftersales support / staff, that farmers in any other region in the world, where Fendt is represented, would receive.

AGCO, Africa’s Managing Director, Dr. Dominik Reus explains, “For weeks, the AGCO Distribution and Sales teams took to the road to present the business opportunity to interested individuals. Inspections of premises had to be conducted while the candidates were assessed on their capacity to appoint new staff and, make improvements to the infrastructure in accordance with the global standards.”

“Our work as AGCO is far from over. Now the training in product knowledge and after sales begins, adds Kershni Maharaj, Head of Strategy & Distribution, AGCO, Africa. “We are also conducting follow-up quality assurance visits to evaluate the design of showrooms, verify that the workshops are equipped with tools particular to Fendt machines and that our new Fendt dealers can connect to a pool of potential customers easily through our digital marketing system.”

Eight dealer proposals stood out and, it was no surprise that they were from agri-preneurs who were already part the AGCO family as dealers. This certainly demonstrates the confidence in AGCO, Africa’s new customer-centric approach from all our current dealers.

Here is the list of the new Fendt dealers in South Africa:

• BHBW – Bothaville, Free State
• BHBW - Hoopstad, Free State
• Drakensburg Agricultural Services (DAS) - Winterton, Kwa-Zulu Natal
• JWL Landbou - Ermelo, Mpumalanga
• JWL Landbou – Standerton, Mpumalanga
• OVK - Bethlehem, Free State
• Tradestuff - Hartebeesfontein, North West
• Valtrac – Parys, Free State

As the designer, manufacturer and distributor of the world’s most efficient agricultural machinery brand, Fendt, AGCO is a proud and committed partner to our new dealers and will continue to invest in growing the brand by recruiting dedicated FENDT sales and after sales specialists, to support Africa’s first Fendt dealers throughout their journey as part of our family.