John Deere reducing dealerships

Lincs Lass

Member
Location
north lincs
I bet with this Business history and vast customer base




Announcement

It is with shock and a heavy heart we announce John Deere have made (in our opinion brutal) the decision that Sharmans are not to be part of their future Growth Strategy and have advised that we will not continue to be John Deere dealers effective 31st October 2020.

Despite being number one in our area for the last 25 years and never missing a target, this is now our harsh reality…

We first learnt of John Deere’s latest global Growth Strategy at a meeting in Agritechnica, November 2019. All 350 European dealer groups were informed that in future there would be a reduction of approx. a third to a fifth of current dealer groups, as well as an expectation of meeting the following criteria:

· Double Current Tractor Area (varies by dealer)

· 100m Euros Turnover

· 30 Combines, 15 Foragers to be sold each year

Although this comes as a shock to our dedicated and long-standing team of staff and our loyal customer base, we are resolute in continuing to provide our first-class support to the farming community and assure you that we will go from strength to strength as a solid, stable, family business.

Together with our wealth of agricultural business experience, committed workforce, premium suppliers and loyal customers, Sharmans will continue to embrace the future.

In the meantime, please be reassured that we will provide our usual service and support to all our customers.

Solid. Stable. Still Sharmans!

#dealermakesthedifference
No hope of selling 30 combines or 15 foragers here ,,the only main foraging done is for AD plants and they are running a Class fleat ,as for combines ,its Class ,NH and the od MF ,,dont think Ive seen a JD combines round the area .
My landlord went from JD tractors to Valtra and Fendt
 

Heathland

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
No hope of selling 30 combines or 15 foragers here ,,the only main foraging done is for AD plants and they are running a Class fleat ,as for combines ,its Class ,NH and the od MF ,,dont think Ive seen a JD combines round the area .
My landlord went from JD tractors to Valtra and Fendt
Sharmans have sold 4 newJD combines within 3 miles of me taking out the competition over a few of years,which in this day an age is going some.
They really need a full line up of machines including combines which will hopefully tempt me way from JD,.
I fancy trying a Case axial flow combine next harvest time,they are not really on the radar around here due to a lackluster dealer.
They haven't technically been allowed to sell new jcbs' from Grantham due to another dealer in the area.
 

Haggis

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Alcester
I appreciate there is a lot of people employed by these dealers. However, how necessary are dealers, are they just another layer taking a profit out the industry?

We have a Bateman sprayer. Bateman have no dealers. I only have good words about there after sales service, they always seem to be able to get us an engineer here remarkably quickly, or get us going over the phone.

Finning caterpillar are the worlds biggest cat dealer covering Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chilie, Ireland and the UK. I have only had to deal with them a couple of times, but I wouldn’t have said their scale had any bearing on the quality of service.

There are endless threads on here debating the chemical supply side of the industry,what is the difference when it comes to farm machinery?

In a world where I can order almost anything on amazon in the middle of the night and have it by lunchtime parts supply shouldn’t come into it.
 

turbo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
lincs
I appreciate there is a lot of people employed by these dealers. However, how necessary are dealers, are they just another layer taking a profit out the industry?

We have a Bateman sprayer. Bateman have no dealers. I only have good words about there after sales service, they always seem to be able to get us an engineer here remarkably quickly, or get us going over the phone.

Finning caterpillar are the worlds biggest cat dealer covering Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chilie, Ireland and the UK. I have only had to deal with them a couple of times, but I wouldn’t have said their scale had any bearing on the quality of service.

There are endless threads on here debating the chemical supply side of the industry,what is the difference when it comes to farm machinery?

In a world where I can order almost anything on amazon in the middle of the night and have it by lunchtime parts supply shouldn’t come into it.
And the cost of having a dealer comes straight out of our pockets!
When we got our first jd they were a little local dealer which has slowly been taken over and getting bigger and bigger until they are one of the biggish dealers around and I can honestly say that the service has got better every time but I have only been to the depot once in a year,if I need anything they will deliver it,it’s the staff that makes it good for me not how close they are to me
 

quattro

Member
Location
scotland
I appreciate there is a lot of people employed by these dealers. However, how necessary are dealers, are they just another layer taking a profit out the industry?

We have a Bateman sprayer. Bateman have no dealers. I only have good words about there after sales service, they always seem to be able to get us an engineer here remarkably quickly, or get us going over the phone.

Finning caterpillar are the worlds biggest cat dealer covering Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chilie, Ireland and the UK. I have only had to deal with them a couple of times, but I wouldn’t have said their scale had any bearing on the quality of service.

There are endless threads on here debating the chemical supply side of the industry,what is the difference when it comes to farm machinery?

In a world where I can order almost anything on amazon in the middle of the night and have it by lunchtime parts supply shouldn’t come into it.
I know Bateman service is second to none but they don’t sell the volume of mainline tractor manufacturers
And as regards saving money through not having dealers I’m sure the manufacturer will need paying to service/look after your tractors
 

Haggis

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Alcester
I know Bateman service is second to none but they don’t sell the volume of mainline tractor manufacturers
And as regards saving money through not having dealers I’m sure the manufacturer will need paying to service/look after your tractors

I’m sure they would, but for starters they wouldn’t have a £100k + invoice for rent on a yard, before you put anything or any employees in it.
 

fergie35

Member
Location
Oxfordshire
I’m sure they would, but for starters they wouldn’t have a £100k + invoice for rent on a yard, before you put anything or any employees in it.

Manufacturers wouldn't do it for the little margin most dealers make. I could nearly guarantee if they did it, it would be dearer than a Merc or LR garage on hourly rates, and there would be no movement whatsoever on any invoice.
 

dowcow

Member
Location
Lancashire
Regarding the Kubota suggestions for alongside their JCB tractors... well they already have Kverneland and Kubota own Kverneland, so that would probably be the easy option.
 

BigBarl

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
South Notts
I appreciate there is a lot of people employed by these dealers. However, how necessary are dealers, are they just another layer taking a profit out the industry?

We have a Bateman sprayer. Bateman have no dealers. I only have good words about there after sales service, they always seem to be able to get us an engineer here remarkably quickly, or get us going over the phone.

Finning caterpillar are the worlds biggest cat dealer covering Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chilie, Ireland and the UK. I have only had to deal with them a couple of times, but I wouldn’t have said their scale had any bearing on the quality of service.

There are endless threads on here debating the chemical supply side of the industry,what is the difference when it comes to farm machinery?

In a world where I can order almost anything on amazon in the middle of the night and have it by lunchtime parts supply shouldn’t come into it.

if a manufacturer got rid of dealers and did all the servicing and warranty jobs themselves all they would effectively end up doing is employing all the fitters currently employed at the dealers. Dealers won’t carry extra staff for fun as wages will be one of their biggest outgoings and a manufacturer would need nearly as many nationally to physically cover the workload. If a manufacturer took everything in house I think they would be shocked at the little margins some of their kit is traded onto farm at, you would probably more likely see costs go up on both sales and service in my opinion.
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
Why don't more companies use the Amazon platform?
If they (JD,CNH,class,etc) listed their entire stock at the main warehouse (and even in dealers stock rooms), and you could look it up and have it delivered next day for no charge they could cope from that side easily enough.
 

CowBale

Member
Wonder what my dealer will do then as sells massive amounts of Deere and jcbs
Smarts?

NH did a similar thing a few years ago. They took the franchise off of Alison and Garwood in Hampshire, and Oakes Bros closed a few of their dealerships, opened a ‘super’ dealership at East Ilsley, Berkshire, and took over A & G’s area.
And a few NH dealerships down in Somerset also disappeared, Hawkes Holdings, LF Jewell, etc, etc...
 
Last edited:

Andrew

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Location
Huntingdon, UK
OK so if JD bins all dealers they would need to employ a huge number of fitters to do warranty work, servicing, breakdowns etc.
These fitters would be based at Langar, where the main UK parts depot is. There would be a stupid amount of miles covered per day by fitters.

They would soon realise it’s better to have regional bases for the fitters. This would reduce travel time, getting more useful work out of a fitter, therefore less fitters needed - less wages - pays for the depot. Then they’d have to stock parts at the depot for the fitters and employ a parts man.
Then they may as well have a few courtesy / demo tractors there and a salesman. All of a sudden they have ‘dealerships’ but with full control and a lot of investment.

JD don’t want the investment, but they want the control. So they force the dealers into bigger and bigger outfits, with all the depots built to look the same. Makes it really hard for the dealer to switch brands, then JD can screw there profits down and down. They have full control, maximum profit, with minimal money tied up.
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
OK so if JD bins all dealers they would need to employ a huge number of fitters to do warranty work, servicing, breakdowns etc.
These fitters would be based at Langar, where the main UK parts depot is. There would be a stupid amount of miles covered per day by fitters.

They would soon realise it’s better to have regional bases for the fitters. This would reduce travel time, getting more useful work out of a fitter, therefore less fitters needed - less wages - pays for the depot. Then they’d have to stock parts at the depot for the fitters and employ a parts man.
Then they may as well have a few courtesy / demo tractors there and a salesman. All of a sudden they have ‘dealerships’ but with full control and a lot of investment.

JD don’t want the investment, but they want the control. So they force the dealers into bigger and bigger outfits, with all the depots built to look the same. Makes it really hard for the dealer to switch brands, then JD can screw there profits down and down. They have full control, maximum profit, with minimal money tied up.
The distances travelled in this country are fairly minimal compared to others I'd have thought.
Most likely decided they want to extend the distances a bit.
 

Haggis

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Alcester
OK so if JD bins all dealers they would need to employ a huge number of fitters to do warranty work, servicing, breakdowns etc.
These fitters would be based at Langar, where the main UK parts depot is. There would be a stupid amount of miles covered per day by fitters.

They would soon realise it’s better to have regional bases for the fitters. This would reduce travel time, getting more useful work out of a fitter, therefore less fitters needed - less wages - pays for the depot. Then they’d have to stock parts at the depot for the fitters and employ a parts man.
Then they may as well have a few courtesy / demo tractors there and a salesman. All of a sudden they have ‘dealerships’ but with full control and a lot of investment.

JD don’t want the investment, but they want the control. So they force the dealers into bigger and bigger outfits, with all the depots built to look the same. Makes it really hard for the dealer to switch brands, then JD can screw there profits down and down. They have full control, maximum profit, with minimal money tied up.

I appreciate that John Deere aren’t about to do away with all their dealers. However, what about a middle ground of one or two dealers or service agents covering the whole country with only a few depots, maybe north, south, east and west and engineers working out of vans?

Do you really need to a salesperson to buy a tractor, why not spec it online, you get a price, you either order it or not.

Ultimately, we are looking industry consolidation, the same that has been happening throughout the industry for years.
 

nick...

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
south norfolk
The distances travelled in this country are fairly minimal compared to others I'd have thought.
Most likely decided they want to extend the distances a bit.
I agree with you regarding distances but the amount of traffic does not compare to somewhere like USA whose roads outside big cities is minimal.its a nightmare travelling anywhere in the uk
Nick...
 

Farma Parma

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Northumberlandia
By the progress of this topic its no much fun being a successful dealer neither
Unsure how business's are meant to go forward with this brand as discussed here.
Coz if ya too small ya no use & heck you could be a vast multi depot out fit as the dealer is this is on about & thats still not good enough
Id say your better having nowt to do with the so called best seller in the business
Big is Beautiful eh
Maybes a long way from it.

Let the Yank Giants pull out the UK if were no good enough for them, i for one wouldnt loose any sleep if they did
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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  • 75-100%

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  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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