Braud was founded in 1870 by Alexandre Braud in St Mars La Jaille in France; at the time Braud was manufacturing threshing machines.[1] In 1908 Braud produced the first power-driven thresher and in 1927 the first thresher made completely with metal.[2]
Braud acquired a strong position in the French combine harvester market, reaching 1,600 units sold in 1968; in the European crisis of the ’70 Braud lost 45% and focused production on grape harvesters.[3] In 1975 Braud produced its first grape harvester, model 1020;[4] this was followed by model 1040, the best selling grape harvester with over 2000 units sold in 4 years.[5]
Braud soon became the leader in self propelled grape harvester, with 60% of market share in France and 50% worldwide. In 1983, Braud produced 670 grape harvesters.[6]