Stefan Top was elected president of CEMA, the European Agricultural Machinery Association. The CEMA Board of Directors and the CEMA General Assembly unanimously elected Mr. Top for a two-year term during their respective meetings in Strasbourg, France. Thierry Krier, Carlo Lambro, Alessandro Malavolti and Christoph Wigger have been elected vice presidents.
The engagement of senior company leaders with CEMA highlights the growing significance of the European Union for the agricultural machinery industry.
Stefan Top is the managing director of AVR and has been the representative of the Belgian Federation Agoria in the CEMA Board of Directors since 2011. A seasoned professional with more than three decades of experience in the agricultural machinery sector, Mr. Top brings significant industry knowledge, expertise, and leadership to the role. Top holds a master’s degree in electromechanical engineering and a master’s degree in industrial management from KU Leuven. His career began in 1993 as a design engineer at AVR. He has held numerous roles within AVR, including product manager sales director and board member before being named managing director in 2011. Top also has served as president of the business group for agricultural and horticultural machinery within Agoria since 2019.
Top succeeds Thierry Krier, president and CEO of Kuhn Group, who has led CEMA for four years. Reflecting on this transition, Top said in a statement:
"I would like to express my gratitude to our outgoing president, Thierry, for his exceptional leadership over the past two terms. Thierry has guided our organization with great dedication and skill, steering CEMA through unprecedented challenges, including the COVID crisis. Under his leadership, we have successfully held impactful CEMA summits, welcomed a new Secretary General, and strengthened the voice of our industry in Europe. Thank you, Thierry, for your unwavering commitment and for leaving CEMA stronger and more resilient than ever."
He added, "I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence the board has placed in me. I will embrace this responsibility with integrity and dedication. Our sector is vast and diverse. We have companies producing machinery for large arable farms and many SMEs serving smaller farms specializing in high-value specialty crops. As president, I will work to represent and support the whole agricultural machinery industry in all its diversity."
The four vice presidents elected by the CEMA board of directors and CEMA general assembly are:
- Thierry Krier – president and CEO of Kuhn Group (representing AXEMA)
- Carlo Lambro – Brand president of New Holland and CEO of CNH Italy
- Alessandro Malavolti – CEO of AMA (representing FederUnacoma), serving a second term as vice president
- Christoph Wigger – vice president, Small Grains Production Systems, John Deere.
The vice presidents bring exceptional industry knowledge, ensuring strong leadership for CEMA as it continues to represent the interests of over 1,300 agricultural machinery manufacturers in Europe. With a combined turnover of 40 billion Euros, Europe is the largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world and the largest exporter.
The CEMA president, as well as its vice presidents, are elected for a two-year term and are eligible for re-election once. Under this new leadership team, CEMA will further strengthen its efforts to support digital transformation, environmental sustainability and global competitiveness within the agricultural machinery sector.
