Fifth of Five: CNH Industrial including Case IH and New Holland
merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester
Company and three smaller manufactures:
Milwaukee; Plano; and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner (manufacturers of
Champion brand).
Case IH Tractors and Combines Date back to 1842
Case IH traces its history back to 1842, with the founding of the Racine Threshing Machine Works by Jerome Increase Case, and the 1847 creation of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company by Cyrus McCormick, who patented his famous reaper a few years earlier. In 1902, McCormick merged his business with Deering Harvester Company and three smaller manufactures: Milwaukee; Plano; and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner (manufacturers of Champion brand) to form International Harvester (IH), famous for the Farmall Tractor.
In 1964, Kern County Land Company (KCLC), purchased a majority stake in Case IH but three years later,
KCLC was bought by Tenneco. In 1984, Tenneco purchased International Harvester’s agricultural equipment division and
the merged line of tractors, combines and other equipment took on the red-and-black colors with Case International
branding. Tenneco then added the Steiger Tractor brands to its holdings.
Tenneco decided in 1994 to exit the farm and construction equipment businesses by making a public offering of shares
in the newly-named Case Corporation, which switched from branding its machines as ‘Case International’ to ‘Case IH’.
Case IH expanded further by purchasing Austrian Tractor company Steyr in 1996.
New Holland Tractor traces history back to New Holland, PA blacksmith shop
New Holland traces its roots back to 1895, when Abram Zimmerman founded a blacksmith shop in New Holland, Pennsylvania and began making engines. The New Holland Machine Company developed successful farm implements, notably the first self-tying pick-up baler. In 1947, New Holland was acquired by Sperry Corporation. In 1986 Ford purchased New Holland from Sperry, giving it a full line of harvesting machinery. It retained the Ford name and blue color for its tractors. New Holland kept the name and red and yellow colors for the harvesting equipment, all under the business unit – Ford New Holland. Ford later sold its farm and construction equipment interests in 1991 to the Fiat Group. The merger grouped the Ford, Fiat and other products under the New Holland brand, retaining the familiar Fiat leaf logo. In 1999, the Fiat Group, which owned the New Holland brand, purchased Case Corporation. The transaction led to the formation of CNH Global, a new company within the Fiat Group. The New Holland and Case IH brands retain distinct identities and features for each brand. CNH Industrial was created in 2012 bringing together CNH Global and Fiat Industrial, managing 12 brands including New Holland and Case IH as well as STEYR tractors.
