Manufacturing at Coventry’s legendary tractor-maker Massey Ferguson comes to an end on Friday, according to the BBC.
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The BBC said the company – owned by American agricultural machinery giant Agco – is closing its Banner Lane plant with the loss of more than a thousand jobs.
According to the BBC, the last tractor rolled off the production line in December and the remaining workers will leave the factory on Friday.
The plant, which employed more than 5,000 people in the 70s and was the largest tractor factory in the world, closes after more than 60 years of production, the BBC noted, adding that it was hoped that around a hundred workers would keep their jobs making components but a company feasibility study ruled that out.
The BBC said Agco announced the Coventry closure last June and said it would concentrate tractor production on its other sites in France and Brazil which benefit from lower production costs.
The BBC said the company will base its European headquarters in Coventry but the only tractors left will be those in the company museum.
Declan Hayden, the company’s marketing director, told the BBC the decision was taken to keep the brand competitive in its world markets.
