A representative survey of 500 German farmers carried out by consultancy MHP points to a softening of brand loyalty in the country’s large-equipment market, with Asian OEMs no longer being dismissed as fringe options. MHP’s data shows 82.6% of respondents expect to buy “large farm machinery” within the next three to five years, while 80.7% say they would not rule out Asian manufacturers for their next purchase.
The switching trigger, however, is not a dramatic collapse in confidence so much as a narrow pricing delta in a sector that has spent the past two years arguing about affordability. MHP found that a saving of 10% to 19% would lead 26.6% of farming businesses to consider changing brands, while a 20% to 29% saving lifts willingness to switch to 59.2%. That is an awkward range for established European and US brands that have traditionally defended premium pricing with uptime, resale value, and dealer coverage.
Social proof is doing the rest of the work. More than half of respondents (53.2%) said they were already aware of businesses around them using Asian machinery, a signal that first-wave adoption has moved beyond the trade-show curiosity stage. Federico Magno, Group CEO at MHP, framed the shift as a warning on differentiation rather than a simple price fight: “The data shows that customer loyalty can no longer be taken for granted. In the field of agricultural machinery, too, it is no longer just the machine itself that counts, but innovative digital solutions, strong service, and maximum performance.”
MHP’s survey also captured the persistent friction points that could still slow a broader transition. 43.6% of respondents cited concerns about quality, 41.8% flagged weaknesses in local service, and 38.2% pointed to fears over spare-parts availability. Josef Heißenhuber, Associated Partner at MHP, argued that pricing is becoming structural rather than cyclical: “A saving of just under 20 percent is enough to sway many decision-makers — and this is fundamentally changing market strategies.”
The timing matters. MHP says the work was carried out immediately after Agritechnica 2025, when awareness of new market entrants would have been higher than normal, and the show continues to position itself as the industry’s global shop window. Looking further out, 68.2% of respondents expect Asian manufacturers to be key competitors within ten years, and almost 20% predict a leadership role — which is the sort of forecast that tends to become self-fulfilling once procurement teams start baking it into their next tender cycle.
