Dealerships??

[njneer]

Noticed recently the trend of big name manufacturers sacking lots of long standing family owned businesses in order to hand the franchise to larger "super" dealers.
Small dealerships who are local and reliable being "sacked" after loyally and reliably serving those manufacturers for decades .
I personally think it is a disgrace the way these guys have been treated.
I would much prefer to use my local smaller dealership than have to use one from a " multi" branch outfit miles away.
What does everyone else think ?
I would even prefer to be able to buy direct from the manufacturer and use my local " appointed" service centre the way you can with cars now to do warranty, servicing and repairs.
I notice certain smaller manufacturers lare now actively looking for and taking on these sacked smaller dealerships to expand their dealer network with good results as these smaller local dealers have always given excellent local service.
They also have much smaller overheads and can keep their rates realistic.
The way the big three JD,Agco and CNH dictate to their dealerships regarding size, multi branches, fancy premises etc etc etc only costs them and ultimately us all more money.
My local guy is tiny in comparison to some of the big multi branch dealers out there but his service is second to none and much more personal if I could buy the machine I want direct and still use him I would without hesitation but as it is I "have" to now buy from a limited selection of super dealers who are miles away.

 

[nick...]

I'm afraid it's the future and there is no going back.caterpillar only have one dealer in the uk,namely finnings.can see Deere,agco and CNH doing the same.everything is available on line too for next day delivery.lots of changes coming in the future.i agree with all you say though
Nick...

 

[marco]

So your giving out about small guys loosing franchises but you want to bypass them and buy direct?

 

[icanshootwell]

The big 3 put so much pressure on smaller dealerships to sell there products, if they cant sell x amount of tractors in a year, there out.
What with tractors being more expensive, farmers are not changing so often, so less commission for dealer, its all small margins.

 

[njneer]

Only because they have already lost the franchise if they still had it I would buy from them.
I still like the particular producypt but I can no longer buy it from the guy I would like to but I would much prefer to give him the aftersales business than the conglomerate that now holds the franchise

 

[nick...]

So your giving out about small guys loosing franchises but you want to bypass them and buy direct?

For earth wearing parts it's normally spaldings,pan Anglian or avenue.sure most farmers use them.thats buying direct.i beleive local man gets his stuff from spaldings to sell on.depends a lot on wether I have time to visit suppliers.got to try and use them as I'd miss them if they not there.anyone wanting stuff who posts on here get inundated with places to get things.batterys and tires to name two things.@terryelsey are major suppliers of rubber.ive had lawn mower tyres from them and tractor tyres.last pair of 650x38s I got from them were delivered and I got them fitted locally and save £150 on what I could get bought and fitted locally.they must have supplied thousands of tyres to members on here.just a few examples but I understand what your saying
Nick...

 

[Cowabunga]

It has been going on since the 1960's. One of the biggest dealer upheavals ever was when Massey-Harris bought Ferguson. There were dealers of many brands back then in every small market town, and nearly every town was a market town. Then I remember the big reorganisations resulting from Case buying DB and subsequently IH.

Everything changes, yet nothing changes.

Caterpillar only have one dealer covering Europe I think, plus one for the rest of the world, and they seem to be doing OK.

 

[Terry Elsey Tyres]

For earth wearing parts it's normally spaldings,pan Anglian or avenue.sure most farmers use them.thats buying direct.i beleive local man gets his stuff from spaldings to sell on.depends a lot on wether I have time to visit suppliers.got to try and use them as I'd miss them if they not there.anyone wanting stuff who posts on here get inundated with places to get things.batterys and tires to name two things.@terryelsey are major suppliers of rubber.ive had lawn mower tyres from them and tractor tyres.last pair of 650x38s I got from them were delivered and I got them fitted locally and save £150 on what I could get bought and fitted locally.they must have supplied thousands of tyres to members on here.just a few examples but I understand what your saying
Nick...

Cheers nick we are just a small family owned company ? Yes we sell a lot of tyres all over the uk we don't take massive profit out of them but every little bit helps ?

 

[David.]

Does that mean that if you buy a Cat there is no shopping around, just one price?

 

[GTB]

I may be wrong to say this but it appears to me that manufacturers actually own some of their dealerships these days.

 

[Vernon]

One day the manufacturers might understand that we are more loyal to our local dealer than we are to them as a manufacturer.

 

[james ds]

Does that mean that if you buy a Cat there is no shopping around, just one price?

That's the problem , I was pricing up loaders lastyear and a Volvo l70 was 20 k cheaper in the uk than here , only one dealer here so it's take it or leave it , so I left it .

 

[Cowabunga]

Does that mean that if you buy a Cat there is no shopping around, just one price?

Of course you can shop around. There's Komatsu and Terex and many other brands you could price against.

 

[Cowabunga]

One day the manufacturers might understand that we are more loyal to our local dealer than we are to them as a manufacturer.

Loyalty? That's a blast from the past! Not many farmers loyal to any dealer these days. They may be more inclined to buy from one or other but in general and unless something goes wrong, the Deere man is loyal to Deere, not the dealer, and the Fendt man is loyal to Fendt, and so on.

 

[Cowabunga]

That's the problem , I was pricing up loaders lastyear and a Volvo l70 was 20 k cheaper in the uk than here , only one dealer here so it's take it or leave it , so I left it .

Its not a problem. Not for you anyhow. You made your choice and Volvo lost out. Their problem not yours.

 

[Vernon]

Loyalty? That's a blast from the past! Not many farmers loyal to any dealer these days. They may be more inclined to buy from one or other but in general and unless something goes wrong, the Deere man is loyal to Deere, not the dealer, and the Fendt man is loyal to Fendt, and so on.

Well our dealer looks after us very well so we stick with them. I know many don't view it this way but we do.

 

[Against_the_grain]

It will all be online ordering before too long with local service centres for service and repairs otherwise if you need a set of filters order online and be with you next day. Can't see a huge problem with that myself.

 

[How much]

I Wonder though will the manufactures ultimately take full control of the retail market themselves ?

You can imagine that once they align the dealerships areas , and get them all into a corporate style , modern premsies etc, on the local ind estate etc they then get the dealers full commited to one brand , tractor, harveters, grass equipment etc all in one companies corperate colours.
The next step is to cut there dealer margin , so the manufacture makes more margin and the dealer less and very easy for them to do when they are in such control.
And once they have the dealer group so highley geared to there product with falling profitability from the reduced margin they come in for the kill and say we are either going to take you over or terminate your agreement.
The manufacture gains complete control and the full retail chain at minimum price .
I have no idea if its a long term aim or not but i can envisage it happening.

 

[Martin Holden]

Beyond the "major dealers" there is a place for the smaller independent 1 depot companies as long as they offer a good service, good products (and there is a wealth of choice beyond the "long liners" product programmes) and so long as farmers will support them. As a manufacturer you either have to be long line or specialise - the latter is a bit more risky, but if they can prove the specialism has a value at the farm gate, then why shouldn't they survive? Perhaps there will be less dealers??? On the other hand long liners and the logisietics means that what was on the shelf at the dealers (relatively speaking) a decade ago may not be today, so service does count; this is where dealers can score. I know of many that survive really week because they specialise and carry an inventory that multi branch companies probably wouldn't. The industry is now changing in a way that I thought would happen a decade ago, but economics kept the changes at bay until now! Perhaps "The Duck" has a view on these thoughts??

 

[Against_the_grain]

Will we even own the driverless tractors/harvesters of the future? Maybe will just lease them as many other industries are already doing. They will be far to complicated for anyone but a manufacturer to repair and when they do go wrong could be swapped out with another. Whatever we will all probadly have to chose a brand and will be stuck with that brand.