When Fendt wheeled a gearless tractor onto its Agritechnica stand in 1995, the industry was convinced a transmission with no fixed ratios could never handle the power. 30 years and seven generations later, the Vario has rewritten the rulebook, from that first sceptical showcase in Hanover to the record-breaking fuel figures that still lead its class. We look back at the technology that came to define the Fendt 900 series
In November 1995 at Agritechnica, Fendt unveiled the Favorit 926 Vario in Hanover, the world’s first tractor with a continuously variable, power-split transmission, available to purchase the following year, 1996, three decades ago.
The showcase was met with scepticism from the industry. Could the new ML 200 transmission, with no fixed gear ratios, transfer the engine’s power without wastage? The answer arrived from the DLG test bench, where engineers measuring at the PTO shaft recorded fuel consumption of under 200g/kWh at maximum power. “The tractive efficiency of the CVT Vario tractor is almost as good as that of the fourspeed powershift transmission in the Favorit 800,” said Manfred Lober, then head of the DLG test centre.
The principle proved itself: the driver regulated engine speed and controlled the transmission continuously via the drive lever, keeping the tractor in its fuel-efficient rev range without fixed ratios. Seven international awards followed, including DLG Gold at Agritechnica 1997.
The 1999 facelift swapped square-edged styling for two low-set round headlights beneath a curved bonnet, earning the nickname “Froschauge” or frog face. Beneath it came the electronically controlled fuel injection and first Vario Terminal, along with the cloverleaf joystick buttons for the power lift and PTO that still appear on Fendt tractors today.
From test bench to headland
In 2003, the second generation introduced the tractor management system, electronically linking the engine and transmission so both could be governed through the drive lever. Variotronic Teach- In let the driver programme up to 16 work steps at the headland and handed the sequence back on the next pass. The Fendt 930 Vario broke the 300hp barrier for the first time at 310hp.
At Agritechnica 2005, one exhibit caused a stir: a 900 series finished in black rather than the classic Fendt green. The industry named it the ‘Black Madonna’, launching the Fendt Design-Line, whose black, red, steel blue and fir green finishes would return in 2026 for the anniversary edition. That year the Fendt 936 Vario collected the Red Dot Design Award, while a Deutz engine lifted output to 360hp.
Performance climbed again in 2010. The Fendt 939 Vario reached 390hp and introduced VarioGrip, letting drivers adjust tyre pressure from the cab to cut soil compaction in the field and rolling resistance on the road. A 2013 update brought a new Deutz engine with steel pistons and twin turbochargers of differing sizes, sharpening throttle response and returning 242g/kWh plus 11g/kWh of AdBlue under the stricter Stage 5 standard.
The sixth generation, in 2019, retired the separate field and road driving modes with VarioDrive. The flagship Fendt 942 Vario delivered 415hp and posted 237g/kWh in the DLG PowerMix Test 2.0, the fourthbest figure ever recorded as of June 2026.
To mark the anniversary, Fendt is launching a limited edition of 300 units in the style of the 2005 Design Line, complete with the chrome package and a choice of the original finishes. It will appear at EIMA in Bologna, three decades on from the Hanover debut that the experts doubted.
This article first appeared in the July/August issue of iVT
