Claas is an agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in 1913, now based in Harsewinkel

Harsewinkel

Harsewinkel is a town in Gütersloh District in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Ems, some 15 km north-west of Gütersloh....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, in the state of North Rhine Westphalia. Their agricultural products are usually sold under the Claas name, except in North America where combines are distributed under the Lexion

Lexion

Lexion is the name of a Combine harvester produced by in the U.S. and Claas/Germany .-History:The facility opened in 2001 as a joint venture with Caterpillar Inc. and the combines were originally marketed as Caterpillar combines, with Lexion as the model...

 brand by Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc.

Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...

 dealers. The product range includes combine harvester

Combine harvester

The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...

s, forage harvester

Forage harvester

A forage harvester is a farm implement that harvests forage plants to make silage. Silage is grass, corn or other plant that has been chopped into small pieces, and compacted together in a storage silo, silage bunker, or in silage bags. The silage is then fermented to provide feed for livestock...

s, baler

Baler

A baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport and store...

s, mower

Mower

A mower is a machine for cutting grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g...

s, rakes, tedder

Tedder (machine)

A tedder is a machine used in haymaking. It is used after cutting and before windrowing, and uses moving forks to airate or "fluff up" the hay and thus speed-up the process of hay-making...

s and other harvesting machines. In 2004, Claas purchased the Renault Agriculture tractor division from the Renault

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

 company of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, becoming 100% owned by Claas in 2008.
The start of the Claas group took place in 1913, when August Claas developed the company in Clarholz, Germany.