Renault Agriculture

A Renault HI tracked tractor in 1920

After the end of World War I, the Renault company used its experience in armored tanks to devise agricultural vehicles.[2] The Renault's Department 14 (responsible for the FT tank) developed the first tractor of the company,[3] the Type GP, which was powered by an engine similar to that of the FT (a four-cylinder) and had tracks.[1][4] The most distinguishable differences of the new tractor with the FT were the front-engine design and the reduced weight.[1] The tractors were assembled in Renault's Billancourt factory since 11 November 1918 on the same production lines that the tanks[1] and tested at Louis Renault's farm in Herqueville.[3][5] The Type HO introduced in 1921 replaced the tracks by more conventional wheels.[3][5][6] In 1926, Renault introduced the Type PE which was extensively revised compared to its predecessors, incorporating a new engine with reduced consumes and a vertical radiator.[7] In 1931, with the PE1, the radiator was moved from the middle position used in the previous models to the front[7] and, in 1933, the model became the first France-produced rubber-wheeled tractor.[8] The company also started to develop versions for specific markets, as vineyards.[7] With the aim of reducing the fuel costs, it introduced its first diesel-engined model, the Type VI, in 1932.[3] By 1938, Renault was producing about 40 tractors per month and was the largest French manufacturer.[9]

In 1920, Renault founded the Le Mans engineering centre.[10] Shortly after, plans to move the agricultural machinery production to the new site were revealed.[3] However, the new factory was inaugurated in 1940[11] and the production was stopped because of World War II.[12] Following the war and nationalisation, the Le Mans plant resumed production.[12][13] The location was divided into a foundry section, a mechanical parts section[12] (supplying the factories of Flins and Billancourt),[14] a painting section and a tractor manufacturing section.[12] At the time, Le Mans was the third largest Renault's operation in France after Billancourt and Cléon.[14] The following years saw the arrival of the D, N, E and Super model series.[15] In 1956, Renault Agriculture standardised the orange colour for its models.[16] In 1950, Renault was the largest tractor manufacturer within France, producing 8,549 units, the 58% of the country's total production.[9] In 1961, Renault introduced the 385 model, with a 12-gear transmission.[17] Apart from its own engines, Renault used MWM[9] and Perkins[18] units. In the 1960s, it produced the One-Sixty Diesel for Allis-Chalmers.[18] In 1968, the company introduced its first four-wheel drive model.[17] In 1972, Renault partnered with Carraro and sold some models of that company with the Renault badge.[15][19] During the 1970s and 1980s, it also sold models from Mitsubishi.[20] At the 1981 SIMA exhibition Renault Agriculture unveiled the TX range, with comfort elements designed in collaboration with the Renault's car division.[15][21] The last Renault tractors had ancient gods' names.[15][16]

An Arès, one of the last models of Renault Agriculture.

From late 1993 to 1998, Renault Agriculture and John Deere had a partnership agreement by which the former received John Deere engines manufactured at the Saran factory and in return it supplied John Deere with tractors marketed as the 3000 series.[22][23] In 1994, Renault Agriculture and Massey Ferguson formed a strategic partnership, as part of which they set up an equally owned joint venture called Groupement International de Mécanique Agricole (GIMA) at a facility located next to Massey's Beauvais factory with the aim of manufacturing transaxles and related components.[23][24][25] In 1995, Renault Agriculture agreed to market products from the British agricultural machinery manufacturer JCB through its dealership network in France.[26] In 1997, the company took a 16.6% stake of Rovigo-based Agritalia, a manufacturer of orchard tractors for various clients.[27] In 2000, it purchased a stake in the Indian manufacturer International Tractors (the owner of the Sonalika marque), forming a Sonalika-Renault joint venture.[28] In 2003, as part of a plan to shed non-core assets,[29] Renault sold a 51% majority stake in Renault Agriculture's tractor manufacturing plant to Claas. In 2006, Claas increased its ownership to 80% and in 2008 took full control and renamed it Claas Tractor.[30] By 2005, the Renault marque was phased out and all the tractor models produced at Le Mans were badged as Claas.[31]