LS Website

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I'm shopping for a tractor and I'm seriously considering the 2013 XR4046C. My local dealer has been great and the price is below the other brands I've shopped so far. Feature for feature, the LS is a winner at an excellent price.

However, one of the things that makes me hesitate is that I want to buy a tractor I can keep for the rest of my life, and LS doesn't have the history of JD, Kubota or NH. And it REALLY bugs me that LS hasn't even bothered to update their corporate website with information on the new models.

I sent the following email to LS today. I'll let you know if/when I get a response:

"I'm considering buying one of your tractor models from your local dealer. I'm about 1 week away from deciding which brand to buy (Deere, Kubota, Mahindra or LS).

I have to say that I'm hesitant to buy a tractor from a company (LS) that doesn't even update its website to include information on its new models. In this day and time, keeping your website up-to-date seems to be fundamental housekeeping for a business. When will your website be updated with the new models?

By the way, the dealer has been wonderful to deal with. My hesitation in buying an LS tractor has nothing to do with them. I just worry about your commitment to the U.S. market for the long term if you can't even be bothered to keep your website up to date."

 

[TSO]

Feature for feature, the LS is a winner at an excellent price.

That pretty much sums it up!

I'm really happy with my LS. I hurried up and bought my 4047 before the tier 4 change, and it's a really nice tractor.

What's the price for that 4046 cab?

And yes, i agree with you completely about the website, but it wouldn't stop me from buying LS again, not for a second.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

. . . What's the price for that 4046 cab? . . . .

Without any negotiations, they quoted $29,647 with the loader. That's the HST cab version (the model is actually XR4046HC). I can add the 3rd function and a grapple for $2,800 installed, but again that's without negotiating.

I'm hoping I can get both of those prices down somewhat.

How do they sound to you guys?

 

[GManBart]

I think that's a pretty reasonable starting point for that model. When you say 3rd function, and a grapple, for $2800, does that include the actual grapple, as well?

Oh, I agree about the website...there's no excuse for that in this day and age.

 

[Guesseral]

Yea let us know if you get any response.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Yes, $2,800 includes the grapple too. I don't know which brand or model it is. These were very preliminary discussions.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I got a response from the national sales manager at LS already. That was fast! Here it is:

Thank you for your valuable input below and we apologize for the delay in upgrading our website.

Actually we are working on the LS Tractor website. We have finished a photo shoot for new models so that we can have scheduled meeting with a web design company. Things are going a little slow, but going very well at this end and I hope that the new website should be done in a couple of months.

I have passed your input along to our Project Team in order to share your concerns and expedite their work.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience. Also, we here at LS do thank you for choosing LS tractor.

 

[DavidBR]

I have an LS tractor and while I do agree they should keep there website updated better I would not be worried about the stability of LG Cable. (LS's parent company). I think they make a great tractor with lots of very nice standard features for a Fair price. Let everybody know what you decide to do.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think folks put too much content into website and other internet factors when choosing a tractor. Lets not forget that websites are fairly new to our universe. We have had tractors and dealerships a lot longer than we have had computers and websites. I would say base your decision on the competencies of the tractor, dealer and comparison of prices versus standard supplied items that is needed for the tractor. I would hate to see someone pass on a great tractor simply because they didn't upgrade their internet site in a timely manner. There are still millions of folks in the world that don't have internet and lots of businesses that sell great products that don't have a website.
Also, just because you haven't heard of a company doesn't mean that they are about to fold up. LS didn't invest Millions of dollars in a modern tractor manufacturing facility to fold the doors 15 years later. The fact that they have instituted an emerging market for their tractors in the USA should indicate that they are seriously involved in keeping this business solvent. They were not happy to just set around selling their product to a third party for market in the USA, and instead decided to openly market their tractors under their own brand. Seeing that CaseIH and New Holland among other brands thought enough of the product line to have them build some of their tractors for them says a lot. Just in the last 3 years, many more dealers are opening up with the LS brand. I think LS is committed to their goal of making LS one of the top sellers tractors in the USA and the World.
NOT SO LONG AGO,(1975 or so) Kubota was an unheard of brand of Japanese tractor and now look at them. Mahindra is another upstart brand here as is Kioti but the companies have made a commitment to make their names known outside of their homeland just as LS is striving to do. Right now, we the consumer can take advantage of this with lower prices than the competition by buying in on the ground floor so to speak. The longer wait the less price difference there is going to be when the LS name and dealership gets stronger. Already I can see the prices starting to come closer to the "other guys".

 

[KILWERBZZ]

Just an update on LS Mtron. It seems their last news update was 2010-08-31
2003 LG Cable Ltd. was spun off from LG Group
2005-01-19 LG Cable Group Renamed LS Group
2008-08-07 LS Cable splits into LS Corp., LS Cable Ltd. and LS Mtron Ltd.
LS Mtron Ltd. makes the tractors.
Here's a 2010-04-12 news article #1422 about case-new holland(CNH).
This url is from LS Korea not LS USA
LS Tractor

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Gary: I understand what you're saying and I agree to some extent. I'm 60 years old so I understand that the world got along just fine before the internet. However, no company is going to make it long term by marketing to my age demographic. They need younger buyers. And those buyers depend on the internet for a lot of their information.

More importantly, perception is reality. It doesn't matter how strong a company is today. If the buying public perceives them as too lazy or uncommitted to update their website, it can create the perception among potential buyers that buying an LS tractor is more risky than buying a John Deere or Kubota. And this is especially important for a company trying to stake their share of turf in the marketplace.

Buying a tractor involves a certain degree of risk. In my mind (and most other buyers, I suspect), I can minimize certain risks by buying a tractor made by a company (and sold by a dealer) that I believe is committed to being here long term and is focused on their business. Not keeping their website current can be perceived, rightly or wrongly, as an indication that the company is not focused or committed.

Now, clearly any incompetent and/or under-capitalized company can have a slick website, and a buyer would make a mistake in placing too much emphasis on a slick website. So I'm not assigning too much importance to the status of the LS website, and there are a lot of other factors that will play a much bigger role in my ultimate decision on which tractor to buy. But it is at least a small indicator in my opinion.

 

[classacthollow]

I also recently contacted LS about their website, I'm wanting to purchase an R4047H with the mid mount PTO option and their backhoe setup. They don't even have a picture for either the backhoe or the belly mount mower. They don't have any info available for it period but they do have it listed. I finally found a good picture of the backhoe mounted and I am probably buying it but not having any literature, not even at the dealer also makes me concerned. they did get back with me and said they will be working on it but that was months ago.

 

[GManBart]

I also recently contacted LS about their website, I'm wanting to purchase an R4047H with the mid mount PTO option and their backhoe setup. They don't even have a picture for either the backhoe or the belly mount mower. They don't have any info available for it period but they do have it listed. I finally found a good picture of the backhoe mounted and I am probably buying it but not having any literature, not even at the dealer also makes me concerned. they did get back with me and said they will be working on it but that was months ago.

Wow....joined in 2006, first post today!

 

[classacthollow]

I never bought my tractor yet, I travel and work out of town, now I am finally getting things for my farm setup. I have been lurking for a long time though, just love all the ideas people come up with. I am buying my tractor next month so I will be a lot more involved. I was invited to join this site when it was first started.
Bruce