McCormick has switched suppliers ... (might be old news)

I just noticed this today, so I apologize if this has already been shared. But I found it interesting...

Looks like McCormick is not buying from Daedong anymore (the X10.xx series were Kioti clones). Looks like they switched to Kukje, because the new units are Branson clones. Personally I think the Branson tractors looked well built, but the Operators area materials-quality and layout left much to be desired, and the cab layout, materials, and space was awful (my humble opinion).

Thoughts?

TSO said:

I just noticed this today, so I apologize if this has already been shared. But I found it interesting... Looks like McCormick is not buying from Daedong anymore (the X10.xx series were Kioti clones). Looks like they switched to Kukje, because the new units are Branson clones. Personally I think the Branson tractors looked well built, but the Operators area materials-quality and layout left much to be desired, and the cab layout, materials, and space was awful (my humble opinion). Thoughts?

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Boy they are jumping around. I first looked at a McCormick at my COOP when they were LS built so I just went to LS.

Yeah exactly ... Doesn't make much sense. Unless Daedong is no longer going to sell to other brands and instead keeping everything in-house like 'Bota ...?

TSO said:

I just noticed this today, so I apologize if this has already been shared. But I found it interesting...

Looks like McCormick is not buying from Daedong anymore (the X10.xx series were Kioti clones). Looks like they switched to Kukje, because the new units are Branson clones. Personally I think the Branson tractors looked well built, but the Operators area materials-quality and layout left much to be desired, and the cab layout, materials, and space was awful (my humble opinion).

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Had a local dealer pushing McCormick verses Kioti tractors (which he sold both) Glad I bought from a kioti only dealer.I think McCormick tractors might be a thing of the past going this route.

coobie said:

Had a local dealer pushing McCormick verses Kioti tractors (which he sold both) Glad I bought from a kioti only dealer.I think McCormick tractors might be a thing of the past going this route.

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Yeah I would agree. My only other thought would be, I wonder if Branson is giving up and instead Kukje will sell only under the McCormick brand? Branson hasn't gained much of a following, so maybe Kukje thinks they will have better luck selling only as mcCormick? That's just a guess.... I haven't seen if Branson is offering a tier 4 line up yet. If they don't, then I would assume my guess is more likely to be accurate.

Branson has a Tier IV line-up. But for years they have been courting different companies to sell some of their capacity. They swear they are in the USA for the long run as Branson (owned by Kukje), but it always makes me a little nervous when I see them pop up as another brand.

Daedong, TYM, Kukje, Yanmar, and LS are just some of the companies that I know of that seem to be able to build a lot more than they can retail with their own distribution chain...so they also sell or have sold them to other companies that rebrand them.

As far as McCormick, they do not sell a high volume of compacts. I can't see them consuming much of Kukje's capacity. I like the brand name - McCormick - and I hope they do well.

TSO said:

Yeah exactly ... Doesn't make much sense. Unless Daedong is no longer going to sell to other brands and instead keeping everything in-house like 'Bota ...?

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Daedong's 10K shows that they have a huge business selling tractor components to others. The Only McCormick I have is a T-shirt.

Hey Dave, which tractor lines do you sell again?

EricTheOracle said:

Daedong's 10K shows that they have a huge business selling tractor components to others. The Only McCormick I have is a T-shirt.

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Components are one thing ... Even 'Bota sells engines to other companies. I'm just wondering if Daedong is going to now build whole tractors just for themselves. Maybe they are established enough now?

TSO, I sell Mahindra and I remain as a Branson dealer. I have no Branson's in stock right now as we are waiting for them to get the Tier IV models CARB certified. I really like the 4520/5220 size Branson. They are hard to beat, but I do occasionally get frustrated with slow parts availability. I'm just honest with folks, if they are looking at a Branson and Mahindra side by side, let's say a 2555 Mahindra vs. a 5220 Branson - I will tell them if they want parts next day Mahindra is really pretty good, with rare exceptions. If they want parts next day with a Branson, that just won't happen if it is other than a fast moving part. Currently I think the Branson offers more tractor for the $$ than about anybody....they just need to get stronger as an organization in the USA.

Daedong in Korea is much more than what we see as Kioti in USA. Kioti tractors are good tractors, but they have been in the USA for a long time and they have not established a huge market share. Mahindra blew right past them, and I'm really not sure why. I do know that Mahindra worldwide is huge and perhaps that allowed some deeper pockets to buy market share, do expensive marketing, develop more models etc. Having said that, let nobody misunderstand me, I like Kioti and think it is a good product. I do not think Daedong pulled the tractors from Bobcat or from McCormick. Bobcat just got out of the small tractor business about the time the Tier IV stuff was rolling out. McCormick may have wanted a better price in switching to Kukje, or perhaps they could not buy the volume needed from Daedong to keep pricing down. There are a lot of factors. When a distributor negotiates with a manufacturer there is always a discussion of volume and model mix. If a year down the road orders are not adequate, prices go up. I'm not at all saying that is the case with McCormick/Daedong, but it is one possibility. I think if McCormick and or Bobcat wanted to order 2500 Daedong tractors each, Daedong would take that order.

Success in the tractor market in the USA requires more than just a good tractor.

Thanks for the info Dave.

So do you have any clout with Kukje? They've gotta do something about the cab design on the 4520r (and I assume that the cab is similar across the board).

I've sat in every cab in the segment, except for TYM (they didn't have a cab in stock when I checked them out). That Branson cab is easily the worst cab of the bunch. Egress is awful, materials are really thin, visibility is poor, layout is funky, and the space is cramped.

The tractor appeared very well built otherwise, but jeez, what a let down.

Maybe you can talk them into redesigning it ?!