Mikko Lehikoinen is appointed Vice President and Managing Director, Valtra EME as of 1 January 2024, reporting to Torsten Dehner, AGCO Senior Vice President, General Manager, Fendt/ Valtra.

Mr Lehikoinen succeeds Jari Rautjärvi, who will retire at the end of 2023 after more than 30 years of service to AGCO and the Valtra brand.  

Mr Lehikoinen joined Valtra in 2009 and most recently has held the position of Vice President, Marketing EME, which he assumed in 2018. He has worked persistently to develop Valtra's global brand and the Valtra Unlimited business, and he has been driving Valtra’s strategy work and digitalization. Prior to joining Valtra, he held leadership positions in the forestry machinery industry and worked in IT.  

Valtra wants to recognize Jari Rautjärvi and his many contributions to AGCO and Valtra over the past 30 years. Jari has seen and experienced many periods of Valtra from the Valmet days to the integration into the AGCO organization. Under his leadership, Valtra underwent a successful transformation programme resulting in consistent profitability and market share growth year after year since 2014. Mr Rautjärvi has been instrumental in developing Valtra into a successful brand and one of the most successful companies in Central Finland, the home of the brand. In 2021, he was presented with the honorary title of Teollisuusneuvos (industrial advisor) by the Finnish President in recognition of Jari’s services to Finnish society. 

”I want to thank Jari for the past years and the work he has done for Valtra and AGCO. He has mentored me over the past 10 years, and I have valued the collaboration! Under Jari’s 17-year leadership we built the foundation for Valtra’s success. The best thing about Valtra are its great people who have been creating growth today and will do so in the future. I am proud of Valtra and it’s a great honour to continue from here,” comments Lehikoinen.