Kubota sues Kioti

TresCrows · Dec 20, 2002

I think Kubota should go Deere Green with yellow wheels and big fluffy yellow seats and then when Kioti follows and changes their colors to match JD can sue Kioti and Kubota. Then Kioti can sue JD for selling Japanese tractors and Kubota can sue JD for having sued them over the MMM attach mechanism (Kubota won). Then JD will paint their tractors orange with black wheels and Kioti will be so confused they will go back to building mopeds which is where they probably belong anyway /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif . That ought to get them fired up huh John MIII? Just think JD green and yellow Kubotas, Kioti orange JDs and Kioti mopeds with PTO's and R1s. J

PhilNH5 · Dec 20, 2002

Pete,
If I recall correctly Ford ran just such an ad in the early 70's. That was before my driving days so my memory may be faulty. At the time there was a Ford Grenada sedan. At least I think that was the name. Anyway the ads showed the back of a Grenada parked next to the back of a Mercedes. And the voice over said that polls showed that most folks couldn't tell the difference between the two.

So Ford was hoping you'd buy the Grenada becuase the back end looked like a Mercedes??? I guess you had to leave it parked in the driveway because from the rear quarter panel forward there was no similarity at all.
Must not have worked to well. Ford doesn't sell that car anymore.

Phil

Boondox · Dec 20, 2002

Phil -- And we all saw how long the Grenada lasted!!! I think TC is right on this one. If you want a solid reputation you have to build it yourself.

Pete

northcreek2624 · Dec 20, 2002

<font color=red>"I find it ironic that a Japanese company is suing someone else for copying them being that everything the Japanese have ever done is a rip off from someone else"</font color=red>

AMEN!! The Japanese wrote the book on copyright infringement.

I bought my Kioti for a lot of different reasons,color was the the least of my concerns.

Maybe Kubota should copy Kioti and charge $6 for an oil filter.
Don't get me wrong Bota's are awesome machines but it's a copycat world and they should turn the page.......Mike

PitbullMidwest · Dec 20, 2002

<font color=blue>I think Kubota should go Deere Green with yellow wheels </font color=blue>

Sorry TresCrows, that's been tried before. I'm sure these two were really undercover Kubota field operatives doing secret research to determine if the average Joe could be tricked into buying their products while believing that they were buying a competetor's brand.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=off&Number=81638&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1>Green Kubota</A>

snowman · Dec 20, 2002

Actually Kubota gained one sale due to other tractors being orange.

When I started looking, I focused on Kubota's because that's what my father in law had, since his was orange - or so I thought.

After I bought it, I found out that he had a Yanmar (I had never seen it up close; it was always in the closed garage when I was around).

So...Kubota should give Yanmar a commission on my purchase, I guess!

kodiac · Dec 20, 2002

Since everbody seems to want to sue everyone else! Should the Kubota owners sue Kubota for OVER CHARGING them for the same quality tractor as the lesser priced Kioti? Really....you're getting the same paint and hood right? Why have to pay so much more? I probably believe Kubotas are better tractors...of course they should be for 15-20% more in price. But, is Kubota saying that people buying tractors can't read, don't know the difference between the names Kubota and Kioti? Sounds like ANOTHER redicules lawsuit, but then they are becoming more and more common in this country. Hope Kubota looses and has to pay Daedong's legal fees as well.

Anonymous Poster · Dec 20, 2002

in my opinion it is just to cut down the competition. I believe Kioti is now #3 in CUT sales just behind the green and the other orange ones. Kioti sales in the US have really jumped in the past few years, they may be cleaning Kubota's clock in other market area's of the world. Maybe even in Japan. Sort of like the us and mexico. The labor rate is much cheaper in Korea than in Japan. It would not suprise me for Kubota to move it's manufacturing to China in the near future.

Kiohio · Dec 23, 2002

Just a few of my own observations, comments.

I would like to know who is telling people that they are the same etc. Just because of one unethical dealer?? That seems rather odd!! I know Kioti doesn't want dealers saying they are the same. I have always told people that there was no connection between them etc. I actually don't like the orange paint I am constantly having to tell people " No, it's not a Kubota!" If Allis-Chalmers was as popular as they were at one time I'm sure all of the early Kubota dealers would have heard "Is that an Allis Chalmers?". Paint is a hard thing to patent. If tractors go the way of four wheelers it's hard to tell what colors they'll come up with!! It's funny about the Kioti/Kubota connection because I have a pricing manual that lists a Kubota engine in a Kioti. There have always been rumors etc about the Kioti/Kubota thing I didn't think that many people took it serious. I'm glad Kioti didn't go with red then they'd be sued by, M-F and McCormick, but so would Century, Branson and Mahindra. Kioti has been here since the 80's I wonder why Kubota is getting so worried now. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
KO