It will work as long as people feel they are getting quality equipment at a good price - AND - there is a good support for the products. Cash payment will eliminate some customers, while others will appreciate the savings. Paying cash has less to do with being rich and more to do with being responsible. If you can afford to buy something and make payments on it, you can afford to wait and save and buy it for (less) cash. With cash in hand you can buy for less than the best 0% financing deal.
Two examples of why it would take a while to win people over that we encountered at work, and I believe we are not alone:
1. Two out-of-country pieces of equipment our company has bought in recent years are a Montana tractor (S Korea) and a PANDA duct leakage tester (United Kingdom). Both have needed parts, and both were a very long wait. When problems arose with the PANDA communication was a real problem. The people spoke English, but the time difference made it hard to connect except via e-mail.
2. We had to replace several owner-provided 16" weldneck pipe flanges that cracked when placed in service. A recent shipment of 1/2" clevises from a vendor is being returned because they have little paper tags that state "Not To Be Used For Lifting". A quality clevis only costs $3 more. In both cases the materials were stamped "Made in China".