US Ambassador makes surprise visit to MF French tractor plant

The arrival of an impressive motorcade with police escort at the gates of AGCO’s Beauvais Massey Ferguson tractor plant in France took many by surprise on 4 May.

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Tight security around this top-level visit by the United States Ambassador to France and Monaco, Jane Hartley meant that the tour was kept under wraps until the last minute.

Warmly welcomed by Boussad Bouaouli, AGCO Vice-President Manufacturing, Ambassador Hartley was accompanied by Caroline Cayeux, Mayor of Beauvais and Didier Martin, Préfet de l’Oise, the Government’s representative in the area.

The Ambassador is passionate about art and architecture, and was in Beauvais to visit the famous cathedral and tapestry museum. She was more than delighted to accept the Mayor’s invitation to tour the AGCO tractor factory as a flagship of local and national industry, and a foremost example of successful engineering and manufacturing investments in France by an American company. Massey Ferguson is the global band of AGCO which is based in Duluth USA and is a leading worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment.

The Beauvais site designs and build Massey Ferguson tractors from 70-400hp and is France’s largest producer and exporter of farm machinery. Some 14,500 tractors leave the assembly lines each year, 85% of which are shipped to more than 70 markets all over the world. Just a few weeks ago, the site was presented with the award for the Best Foreign Company Exporter in France.

“Ambassador Hartley praised the professionalism and pride of the Beauvais workforce and highlighted how the site’s success story was a great example of the benefits of US/French partnership in business,” says Boussad Bouaouli. “She also remarked on our strong focus on productivity and the excellent organisation, orderliness and cleanliness of the site. And of course, she was very impressed with the power and quality of the MF tractors! It was a great day for us and wonderful to be able to show off our work here to such a high-profile delegation.”

At the end of the visit, Boussad presented the Ambassador with a scale model of an MF 7624 tractor painted in the red, white and blue of the French flag – a Limited Edition collector’s item to remind her of the full ‘Made in France’ experience.