The Agricultural Engineers Association has released the latest sales figures for the major tractor manufacturers, which show John Deere still holding a commanding lead.

As usual, the EU’s competition rules mean the figures can only be made public 12 months after they are collated, so the ones we are able to publish refer to 2012’s tractor sales.

Although they are slightly out of date, they still provide a good insight into the state of the market and the relative success of the major manufacturers. This time around it was two Agco brands – Massey Ferguson and Fendt – that appeared to be the biggest winners. Meanwhile, Claas and John Deere were two household names to take a significant sales hit in 2012.

In total, the 2012 UK tractor market was worth a respectable 14,964 units above 50hp. That was a small drop from 2011’s 15,217 unit sales and above the 14,486 machines sold in 2010.

John Deere retained top spot, meaning it has been now been number one for 14 years running. Total 2012 sales reached 4,734 units, which equated to 31.6% of the market. That was up on 2010’s 4,427 unit sales, but couldn’t quite beat a great year for the green giant in 2011, which saw 4,972 tractors sold and a 32.7% share of the market.

Second place, again, went to New Holland. It sold 2,737 blue-liveried tractors in 2012, which secured it 18.3% of the market. Like Deere, it was down on the 2,758 tractors it sold in 2011 but above the 2,612 units sold in 2010.

The biggest mover was Massey Ferguson (including Challenger), which upped its unit sales from 1,851 in 2010 and 1,884 in 2011 to 2,005 tractors in 2012. That meant triple-triangle tractors made up 13.4% of the UK market.

The fourth biggest seller was the second major brand from the CNH stable. Case IH’s total tractor sales tallied 1,377 in 2012, an increase on the 1,332 sold in 2011 and 1,160 in 2010. The rise in sales meant its market share moved to 9.2%.

The rest of the manufacturers are pretty closely matched. Fendt increased its market share to 5% thanks to the 747 tractors it shifted in 2012. That was a decent increase on the previous year’s 668 tractors sold and from 2010’s 593 units.

Next in the rankings comes Claas, which has seen a dip in sales since 2010. The 643 tractors sold gave the German maker 4.3% of the market in 2012, but sales have dropped considerably from the 904 units sold in 2010.

Kubota comes next but it, too, reported a sales decrease. 2012 saw 615 tractors sold, which gave the ambitious Japanese firm 4.1% of the market. That was a little down on the 653 and 655 tractors sold in 2011 and 2010 respectively.

Flying the flag for Finland was Valtra, which had posted decent increases in sales for 2010 when it sold 553 units and 2011 when it sold 627. However, it dropped slightly to 554 units for 2012, which gave it 3.7% of the market.

Deutz-Fahr sold 449 tractors in 2012 and claimed 3% market share, up from 416 in 2011 but down from 2010’s 498 units.

Agri Argo’s major brands – McCormick and Landini – both recorded a rise in sales. The former sold 299 tractors in 2011 and 346 in 2012, which secured it 2.3% of the UK market. Landini moved from 135 in 2011 to 144 in 2012, which gave it a 1% share.

JCB’s sales totalled 161 tractors and 1.1% of the market. That was down from a steady 191 units in 2010 and 190 in 2011.