The company, which is based in Harworth, south Yorkshire, England, is a subsidiary of the ARGO group, the Italian-based company that manufacturers the tractors.

It is understood that AgriArgo has appointed Wexford man Will Doyle to be the Irish sales manager for the two brands.

He will be working closely with the existing dealer network. Will was formerly national sales manager for Zetor Ireland, which is part of the McHale Plant Sales organisation.

The move is a big change in terms of Irish tractor distribution, as Landini has been distributed by D&S Machinery in all of Ireland for over 26 years and more recently the McCormick brand when it was re-established by the ARGO group in 2001.

D&S Machinery is run by Michael Devane and it is understood that there have been some redundancies at the company following the loss of the twin tractor franchises.

It is understood that D&S Machinery will continue to provide parts services to Landini and McCormick dealers for the near future.

Numbers

There are 3,081 Landini and 1,016 McCormick tractors on the national vehicle registration system in Ireland, according to the 2016 statistics, so jointly they account for about 5% of all tractors in the country.

Roscommon has recorded the highest numbers of Landini tractors, followed by Tipperary and Wexford, all counties which have well-established Landini dealerships in place.

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Map: What’s the most popular tractor brand in your county?

Tractor numbers continued to fall in 2016