cover story 8 F O C U S ‹F›: Mr. Klauser, in the passenger vehicle industry, connectivity between vehicle and driver is on the rise. More and more people are also talking about smart cars or autonomous cars. Is there any talk of connectivity between drivers of tractors and their vehicles? ‹A.K.›: There certainly is. In smart tractors, we have incorporated connectivity to an extent that they even feature vehicle-to-vehicle communication: combine harvesters, for example, drive ahead and are followed by unmanned tractors. Just a few years ago, nobody would have cared about such technology because there were still enough tractor drivers around. But in the meantime, for example in the Balkan states, there are steadily decreasing numbers of people in rural areas who drive tractors. So connected vehicles, i.e. vehicle-tovehicle systems, are gaining significance. AFS ConnectTM (Advanced Farming Systems), for example, is GPS technology which we use in our tractors. It helps drivers make decisions: For example, how the drivers should drive and which control function they should switch on and when. When they receive a correction signal, the tractors are able to follow a row to within 2.5 cm of accuracy. These systems, in which we are market leader, assist farmers in jobs like fertilizing, planting, soil tilling or harvesting; they reduce overlap and increase not only comfort but also efficiency and the resulting potential yield. ‹F›: The Steyr brand‘s slogan is „A tractor you can rely on.“ How does Steyr achieve the long service life for which the brand is known? PROFILE OF ANDREAS KLAUSER, BRAND PRESIDENT CASE IH AND STEYR Andreas Klauser was born in Kirchdorf/Krems in 1965 and was passionate about agricultural engineering at an early age. After graduating from HTBLA Steyr (a higher technical school for mechanical engineering) in 1987 he completed a degree program in Export Business at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz. Andreas Klauser began his career with Steyr Landmaschinentechnik in 1990. Until 1996 he worked as export manager for Steyr Traktoren in Italy and Eastern Europe. In the same year, he assumed the role of Business Director for Eastern Europe, focusing his work on the reorganization of distribution in Eastern Europe. Between 2000 and 2006, Andreas Klauser distinguished himself as Business Director of Central Europe for Case IH, Steyr and New Holland and as Sales and Marketing Director for Poland. Between 2006 and 2009 he held the position of Vice President and General Manager Europe for Case IH and Steyr. In 2009, he became Brand President, taking on the global overall responsibility for the brands Case IH and Steyr, and has successfully managed the brand activities from the Case IH headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin (U.S.) and the European headquarters in St. Valentin ever since.
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