Dealer Lost A Deere Dealer Today

[hunterridgefarm]

I went by today to visit my dealer who carries Kubota, John Deere, and large selection of Bobcat. As I was pulling in I noticed no green and yellow on the lot. Talked with the owner and he bought out the other owner and therefore had to get all new contracts with the lines he carries (changed the name also). John Deere said go ALL GREEN AND YELLOW or no green and yellow. That ment no Bushhog, Woods, or anyother attachments except John Deere brand.

I really hate that he lost JD. He did carry more Kubota tractors than JD and sold several hundred JD lawn mowers and many Gators. I own two Kubotas but have always had my heart set on owning a JD 5X25 some day. Around here JD is several thousand more than Kubota or New Holland.

Now my closest JD dealer is 30 miles away. This dealer has about 8 dealerships in NC and was priced higher than my smaller JD dealer. I had stopped by last fall at the larger dealership, which had just moved into town 6 months earlier, to get a price on a 5325 and had mentioned that I had always delt with the smaller JD dealership in the other town. He told me then there was a good chance this dealer would lose the JD line because JD did not want anyother product on their lots but JD. Makes me wonder if he had some infulence over this decision since he will now be the only John Deere Dealer for miles...?

All the other Dealerships around me carry at least to different brands of tractors, all are Kubota/New Holland with one rather new dealership that is MF/Kioti.

Are John Deere dealers in your area "just" John Deere?

 

[cowboydoc]

Dealer is giving you bogus information. Deere does not have any no compete clauses with their dealers. Just about every deere dealer out there sells numerous implement names and many sell mutiple tractor lines.

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Hunterridge -

Now that I think about it, it seems to me that my local JD dealer is 100% Deere - tractors and implements. Seems like a short-sighted policy to me, but then again I'm not a hugely successful multi-national corporation.

Just seems to me that in the long run you're better off giving the customer what he wants, even if it's not painted green. I like the fact that I was able to get a Bradco brush grapple from my Kubota dealer, or a Woods or Bradco backhoe if I'd wanted one. He doesn't sell Deere; maybe he didn't like their rules either.

I'll be interested to see if this "green only" policy is a universal one - never really thought about it before.

John

 

[hunterridgefarm]

cowboydoc,
I have no reason not to believe you. I can only comment on Deere dealers in my area. I have 3 other deere dealers within a hour and a half of me and they all carry John Deere and nothing else.
I know this guy would not just give-up the JD line he sold way to many mowers and gators and had been a JD dealer for many years. Maybe it was the fact he did not move as many tractors...?

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

My local JD dealer sells several different brands of attachments, including WOODS which are the toothbar and rear blade models I bought from him for my tractor.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Does he carry any othe brand of tractor?

Maybe it is a regional thing...or the number of deere dealers in an area.

I just hate he lost it, now I have to drive futher tto sit on the Green and Yellow /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[2nstonge]

I'm with you on this one. Local JD guy is all green & yellow - nothing else. He alluded to it being a JD corporate thing; it effects his buying power, interest rate(s), equipment availability, etc. He's a mom & pop shop (literally) with no clout so he does what 'the man' tells him.

-Norm

 

[JerryG]

I was told that they could sell other brands of equipment, but JD tractors only.

 

[Bird]

To say John Deere doesn't want any other brands to be sold by their dealers probably wouldn't have surprised me just a few years ago because the 3 closest Deere dealers had nothing but Deere. However, right now the closest Deere dealer I know of also has Cub Cadet. I know that he had the Cubs 15 years ago, but can't remember whether he had Deere also then.

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

I think maybe George Orwell's "Animal Farm" might shed some light on this. "All pigs are created equal .... but some pigs are more equal than others".

If a dealer is well-established and has been selling multiple brands, including Deere, for years and years, and is moving a lot of Deeres, JD might just look the other way. If a "little guy" happens to be selling only Deere and wants to add more lines, or is selling another line but wants to add Deere, and he hasn't done much for JD lately, that just might be another story. And if someone complains about someone else getting preferential treatment ... "No Deere for you! Come back one year!".

Here's a link to ABC Groff in New Holland, PA. They sell JD, NH, and just about every implement under the sun, many different brands. (Good website to cruise around on, they have everything). They're probably just so well-established and big that Deere wouldn't want to lose them by playing hardball.

In short, I think there's a great deal of truth to what we've all been saying here; maybe it's just a matter of politics and economics that makes the "rules" a little less hard and fast (but what else is new).

John