McCormick International is a name with two lives. It was the badge International Harvester put on its new tractors from the 1960s, after the Farmall name had been dropped, and it was revived in 2000–2001 when the Italian ARGO group relaunched the McCormick brand around the former Case IH works at Doncaster.
McCormick International at a glance
| First use | International Harvester tractors from the 1960s |
|---|---|
| Before that | Farmall, then Standard branding |
| Changed to | plain International after 1963 |
| Revived | 2000–2001 by the ARGO group |
| Works bought | Doncaster, England |
| Models bought with it | C, CX and MX-C, plus an MX Maxxum licence |
| US company | McCormick International USA, announced December 2001 |
| Plant closed | Doncaster, December 2007 |
| Built since then | Fabbrico, Italy |
There is no article on McCormick International in English Wikipedia. The first use of the name is described in the Farmall Germany article, the modern company in the article on McCormick Tractors.
History of the McCormick International
The name belongs to International Harvester’s tractor branding. The company’s German works at Neuss had built tractors as Farmall, then moved newer models from Farmall branding to Standard, with Agriomatic applied to the more powerful tractors. By the 1960s the Farmall brand had been dropped entirely and new tractors were branded as McCormick International; after 1963 the branding moved to simply International. The same years saw the British works at Doncaster, which had built farm machinery since 1939 and tractors since 1949, become the home of International Harvester’s European tractor range.
The name disappeared when International Harvester sold its farm equipment division in 1985 to Tenneco’s Case Corporation, whose tractors were sold as Case IH. The Doncaster plant carried on under Case IH and built the CX series from 1997 and the Maxxum MXC series from 1998.
McCormick International returned as a company name in 2000. Case and New Holland had begun their merger into CNH Global in 1999, and the European Union required the sale of the Doncaster works as a condition. ARGO bought the plant and the rights to the McCormick brand, together with the C, CX and MX-C models and a licence to build MX Maxxum tractors. McCormick Tractors International Limited began trading in January 2001, and in June of that year ARGO bought the Saint-Dizier factory in France, which became the base of McCormick France.
In December 2001 the company announced McCormick International USA, based near and supported by Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa. The British side did not last: in December 2006 ARGO announced that Doncaster would close with the loss of about 325 jobs, and in 2007 production moved to Fabbrico in Italy. The last tractor built at Doncaster, on 14 December 2007, was an XTX series machine, and KamAZ bought the assembly line to build a version of the XTX in Russia. Since then McCormick has been a brand of ARGO Tractors rather than a manufacturer, with sales companies added in Spain in 2017, France in 2019 and Poland in 2021.
Design and features
- Badge of the 1960s: the name International Harvester used after dropping Farmall and Standard.
- Doncaster works: the English plant that built International Harvester, Case IH and then McCormick tractors.
- Revived brand: bought from Case IH by ARGO in 2000 as the European Union required the Doncaster sale.
- American arm: McCormick International USA was announced in December 2001 near Vermeer in Pella, Iowa.
- Italian production: moved to Fabbrico after the Doncaster plant closed in December 2007.
McCormick International versions
- McCormick International of the 1960s: International Harvester branding before plain International took over in 1963.
- McCormick Tractors International Ltd (2001): the ARGO company built around the Doncaster works.
- McCormick International USA (2001): the American sales organisation based near Vermeer in Iowa.
- McCormick as a brand: one of the ARGO Tractors names alongside Landini and Valpadana since 2007.
The modern company’s later tractors are described on the pages for the McCormick XTX 200 and the McCormick C95, and the old brand in the article on McCormick-Deering. More machines are in the McCormick collection.
Video: Mc Cormick International 423, IHC, probe fahrt
Video by PB Fotografie on YouTube.
Sources
- McCormick Tractors, English Wikipedia: 2000 purchase, Doncaster, McCormick International USA, closure
- McCormick Tractors International, German Wikipedia: brand history, merger conditions, later network
- Farmall Germany, English Wikipedia: McCormick International branding from the 1960s
- International Harvester, German Wikipedia: Doncaster plant history
