you guys do realize that we (I) have to walk a line between being honest with what we see in the field, and what we sell and support. There is a market for the LS tractors, and New Holland seems reasonably happy with how they have done. We sell about the same number of them that we did the old Shibaura models. If pressed by a customer, we will admit that the engineering in these tractors lags Kubota (which we also sell) and the prior New Holland models. Most folks at CNH won't argue that point either. They fill a value niche in the market. Its not in my interest to publicly hash out where we see these differences, but suffice to say... if you hop from one to the next they become apparent quickly. I'm not trying to cut down anyone's purchase decision, just calling a spade and spade.
On the pricing, you can't draw a conclusion here from just a few experiences. The nature of how these things are sold can cause dealer cost to swing wildly. We periodically get deals on Boomer 30\35 and blow outs on T1510's that put our Kubota options to shame. That said, if the timing is wrong and inventory is not managed right you won't be competitive at all. As a customer, you really gotta put boots on the ground and check whats happening in your local market. At the end of the quarter when CNH is looking for sales on another dozen compacts they will stop at almost nothing to win deals. This contracts hugly to Kubota who is very consistent in their dealings.
