Squirming Salesman

[Bob_Skurka]

KO, I found the same thing with my local Kubota/Case/Cub dealership. If you come in for an AG tractor they push you to Case because that is the only suitable product line they carry for that size equipment. They do not even stock the Case CUT or Sub-CUT lines of tractors. I actually tried to buy a CASE DX series from them and they pushed me to Kubota. For lawn & garden, they keep plenty of Cub Cadets on hand, up to the 5000 series. If you want a larger series Cub, you have to special order it, or wait to see one that someone else ordered. If you want a CUT they have 6 to 12 Kubotas on the lot at all times and they push you into those from the small BX up to the largest L series and they occasionally have an M series. If you want something they don't have, they will get it in for you, typically with no obligation to buy it because they are sure they can sell it.

I have no idea about the extra commission concept, but I deal with the owner so I doubt if he is taking a traditional commission on the sale of goods I buy from him anyway.

What they told me was they find the Kubota to have the lowest problem factor of all the equipment they sell. Warrenty work is virtually zero compared to the other brands and they claim they typically do not make money on most warrenty claims and often lose money on warrenty work when they factor in pick up/delivery and sometimes loaner equipment.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I gotta defend this practice some. We have Cub Cadet,Case,NH,Kubota, Ferris, Woods, etc,etc... full lines of each brand. When it comes to ZTR's... we really only push Kubota, Ferris and a few cheap Cubs. They are simply the market leaders within the product mix that we carry. For compacts we don't even bother with anything from Cub Cadet as the product is vastly inferior to what we can offer from other companies. You would not expect a dealer to stock a full line of a product that they don't believe in?

There are kickbacks on just about every tractor from every company. Its common practice, infact thats where about 20% of my income comes from. They all tend to offer about the same amounts.