John Deere's poor dealership decision making IMO.

[oldballs]

You got me??? We have all these people with Business Degrees, Political Degrees, Philosophy Degrees and Theology Degrees, and it all seems screwed up to me. But my local tractor dealer seems to be functioning okay.....except for the service guy. My local Church Parish seems to function according to my standards and my local govmint likewise. Guess I can't complain too much.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[ultrarunner]

Too big too fail or market share is the business plan... same in medical, automotive, etc...

 

[CincyFlyer]

On the one hand it sucks, on the other hand, many of these small dealers are struggling so something is better than nothing.

Yep. My local Mahindra dealer went under, so instead of two miles to get parts, it's now fifty. Yay.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I could maybe understand yanking the carpet out from under a small dealership, that carried just a few things, but our dealership was fully stocked with tractors that could be sold locally.

If there is not enough of a market for a 'few model tiny dealership', I don't see how a huge conglomeration could hope to sell more units in the same area.

 

[RickB]

Everyone is ignoring a primary reason for manufacturer driven dealer consolidations. The cost the manufacturer bears for servicing and supporting each dealer. The mfg’s customer is the dealer, not the end user. Selling more product to fewer accounts requiring less aggregate support helps the bottom line. Larger dealership organizations require less marketing, technical and IT support than small single store entities.

 

[Turbys_1700]

RickB hit the nail on the head...
I remember years ago when Agco was consolidating...
We've got local farmers here who have Gleaners that source parts from the nearest dealer that is several hundred miles away...
Most of them have used parts supplies...
Lot of those older units still working and some of the newer R series...
Several of the bigger farmers have switched to Deere for support and service...

 

[Turbys_1700]

After two buy outs I still know all the employees on a first name basis. We visit about the weather, kids, grandkids, the teenagers leaving black marks on the hiway, the future of farming and many other topics. Excellent stock of parts and machinery. If they don't have it, they will in a couple days.

I've saw no downside.

That's a great outcome ovrszd...
In our area there is not a lot of large acreage farming done...
Bigger farms typically are in the 200 to 500 acre size with most of that rented...
Lots of smaller farms in the 20 to 50 acre range thus the popularity of Kubota's in the 30 to 50 HP range...
I have a Deere dealership 30 miles away, an excellent New Holland/Kubota/Mahindra dealership 15 miles away, and another smaller Kubota dealership about 12 miles away...
West End is Kioti and they are 30 miles away so I am fortunate to have these options...

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Everyone is ignoring a primary reason for manufacturer driven dealer consolidations. The cost the manufacturer bears for servicing and supporting each dealer. The mfg’s customer is the dealer, not the end user. Selling more product to fewer accounts requiring less aggregate support helps the bottom line. Larger dealership organizations require less marketing, technical and IT support than small single store entities.

You are right....but, it will influence my purchasing decision the next time I buy a tractor. Deere sales might go down 1, and another color might go up 1.

 

[Diggin It]

I can go to a JD dealer 20 miles away. Or one 40 miles away in another direction. Or one 80 miles away in a different direction. Or one of any of 5 or 10 others within 150 miles in any direction. But they all have the same name. All owned by the same franchise. So, I get 10 or 15 choices all of which are exactly the same.

Which is a big part of why I'm looking at other colors.

 

[Ritothebull]

I remember when Ringhaver started buying up all the Cat dealers down here about 30 years ago, that was the end of price shopping for Cat parts and machines in Florida. Guys got pissed and started going out of state for large purchases, some folks just like to feel like their getting a deal I guess.