New Holland
In 1895, Abram Zimmerman, a handyman from New Holland, Pennsylvania started New Holland Machine Company in a blacksmith shop, incorporated in 1903. Zimmerman invented a wide range of farm machinery and tools. His best invention was a hit and miss engine that was freeze proof and ran on gasoline. The engine was available in many different sizes of horsepower. The gasoline engines were able to power a lot of different machinery including wood saws and livestock cob burr mills. The engines were also able to power things in the house, including butter churns and washing machines.
In 1947, the Sperry Corporation, electronics specialist, acquired the New Holland Company. The company was then known as Sperry New Holland. In the years that followed, Sperry New Holland developed and manufactured a large number of agricultural machines. In particular, the company carved out a niche as a producer of high-quality harvesting equipment.
In 1964, the company bought a large share in Claeys of Belgium, this was a company that specialized in combine harvesters in Europe. In 1986, Ford Motor Company acquired Sperry New Holland, merging it with Ford Tractor Operations, and then naming it Ford New Holland.
In 1991, Fiat acquired Ford New Holland, merging it with Fiat Geotech and named the new company N H Geotech, thus starting a complex process of integration of all the companies that have come to be gathered under this name.
In 1993 N H Geotech changed its name to New Holland. New Holland is one of the world’ s leading manufacturers and distributors of agricultural equipment and a major producer of construction equipment. The company is the market leader in Europe and many parts of Latin America and Asia and ranks third in the North American tractor market.