What happened to the Branson website?

[Bob_Skurka]

Just out of curiosity, who is Branson's parent company?

I was under the impression that Branson was owned by a couple guys who contracted with Kujke of Korea to build tractors for them. The Bransons are simply a rebranded tractor made by someone for someone. Mind you I am not saying that is bad. NH is made by Shiburu (sp?) and for years JD had machines made by Yanmar. But the way I understand it, Branson is a company all by itself with no ownership stake in Kujke and Kujke is simply under contract to make a bunch of tractors with a Branson logo on them. Kujke is a strong company based on my superficial search, but they are certainly not the parent company of Branson (unless the Branson website is wrong about who owns Branson).

Century and Zetor, from what I can tell have no ownership in Branson. Century basically was swollowed up by Zetor, and Zetor has Kujke under contract to build tractors for them. Those tractors are the Century machines, which just happen to be the same machines that Branson has made for them. So by default, Branson parts can be purchased at a Zetor dealer and Century/Zetor parts can be purchased at a Branson dealer.

The local NH dealership just picked up Branson tractors. They are being sold as a quality tractor at a lower price. But from what I can see there is no parent company that owns Branson. Am I wrong?

 

[Evasive1]

Maybe I just used a bad choice of words when I said parent company when referring to Kukje. The point being that the tractors were built by a reputable company that has been around. I should of said a strong manufacturer. As it has been explained to me too, there is no link between Branson and Century. Century is imported by American Jawa limited, who also imported Zetor. This year they started to bring in the Century tractors as Century by Zetor, which quickly became Zetor tractors.

 

[DavesTractor]

Kukje owns a majority share of Branson Tractor Company (USA). This is a fairly recent development. It's a win-win situation.

 

[BillG_in_TX]

Dave,

This confirms the rumor in this post from back in May. Good news for Branson and Branson owners, I'd say. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Now if they could just hire someone to update their web site! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[DavesTractor]

<font color="blue"> Now if they could just hire someone to update their web site! </font>

Amen to that. We as dealers get a few sales from corporate websites and it's a bummer when they are down. You can be sure we have mentioned the fact to Branson. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MicroPilot]

Are the Century tractors being marketed by Zetor anywhere other than the US? I was under the impression that the rebranding of the Century line as Zetor was a marketing move by the Importer, AmJawa, and that Zetor didn't have anything to do with it other than approving their name being put on the Kukje/Century tractors.

 

[Evasive1]

Bill,
Went back and read your post. Really nice summary. Your prediction seemed to pan out exactly like you stated. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[kybota]

Bill, I'd also like to say that that is the clearest explanation I've seen of Kukje/Zetor/Century/Branson relationships. I guess that may be where it is at now.

Of course, I Don't know how Kukje stands in the ag business these days, as that is a tough industry to compete in. I will definitely look for corporate finance info on them if I decide to buy Branson.

Bill, are you still considering Branson like you were in May?

 

[BillG_in_TX]

My conjecture back in May on Kukje's involvement with Branson was gleaned from veiled hints posted on TBN by Branson insiders. Certainly no inside knowledge here. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I still think that the Kukje is the best value for MY situation. But the way the compact tractor market is evolving, that may not be the case in a year or two, which is when I may be upgrading. For now, I'm enjoying doing the research and trying out all the different models. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[kybota]

Update:
Since the website returned last week, I thought I'd go check the loader specs for the 20 series. Now it is password protected and I cannot get to any info.

I'm guessing this is just from working out the kinks while developing a new site, but it is aggravating.