Dealer What's up with the Cub Dealers?

[gamble77]

You all are correct about having more than one brand. We have others and are about to bring another big name brand in. We don't carry all of Cub's line, we don't carry any of their hand-held equipment and very few compacts.

Cub Cadet for year were centered around residential ridding mowers. Now they have a full blown Commercial line, utility vehicle line, residential zero turn line, and within two to three years will have a compact line that will be able to compete with the top names in the business.

What you won't see in the future is a Cub Cadet dealer where Cub isn't their top "focus." In other words you won't walk into a dealership that sells say Toro and Cub Cadet and 80% of the machines on the floor be Toro's and the dealer just stocking a few Cub Cadet's...this doesn't make sense for Cub.

 

[JohnSinVA]

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of your inventory is Cub? I'm going to assume that you carry their L&G line exclusively, based on the product lines in your signature. What happens if/when MTD comes to you and tells you that unless you carry and promote the CC Compacts as your flagship line they'll drop you as a dealer altogether? I would bet that this would be more likely to happen than not, especially if MTD really wants to make a serious go at the compact market.

 

[gamble77]

You are right, I carry everything they make except their compacts and hand helds, full line Troy-Bilt dealer as well. And you are also correct that there may come a day when we as a dealership have to decide between Cub Cadet and FarmTrac/Kioti...

But there is a catch to all of this. You have to understand that Cub Cadet cannot and is not in a position right now to have their dealers give up their current tractor lines. Why? Because Cub Cadet doesn't have a strong enough tractor line to carry a dealership...currently their offerings are almost laughable in the tractor line.

The reason they are killing off many of their L&G dealers is because they are now in a position to tell dealers, "hey, we have the products, we have the financing, and we have the support to be your primary L&G supplier." And they truly do, their products can go toe to toe with any other products on the market in their price range and their financing and support are amazing. Their L&G lineup is truly world class.

When they can say that about their compact and tractor line-up then there may very well be a day when they can dictate who deals what. And if that day comes then each dealer will have to decide what is best for them. Deere does this already to a great extent. You must understand though that great products can and should only be sold by the best dealers, great products are nothing with lousy dealers.

 

[JohnSinVA]

That's quite true. However, earlier in the thread you seemed to imply that dealers who didn't carry a a broad range of CC models were somehow inferior. The smaller dealers may carry a select few machines because they know those models are the ones that will move in their particular area, while others sit and collect dust on the showroom floor. Equating dealer size with dealer quality is specious and, as pointed out by the OP, pulling smaller dealerships can have the negative effect of reducing CCs exposure in a particular region to big box stores, or worse, eliminating it entirely.

Case in point: I have a Kubota/CC dealer on my route to/from work. Kubota is their main line, CC fills in at the GT/LT and ZTR level. They also have some CC utility vehicles. To get to another CC dealer (where CC is the primary line) is a 30 mile trip. If MTD gets uppity when their new compacts come online, more than likely that dealer will drop them. So, instead of being able to stop on my way home from work to check out a CC heavy-duty GT, I either have to drive 30 miles out of my way or look at other colors. Brand loyalty is still a powerful driving force and it seems to me the best way to get that is to get product into their hands to begin with. And you can't do that if they can't get their hands on the wheel and their behinds in the seat.

 

[Fordlords]

Now for the ultimate question. I know that although JD sells their smaller LT lineup through Lowes and ?? box stores, those tractors are set up by and represented through the local JD dealer in the area, which is not the case with the Cub LT's sold at TSC and Home Depot. One does not have to work for Scotland Yard to know that parts and service for the box store Cub Cadets has been virtually non-existant through those stores- in fact that has been the biggest reason the dealers have been so highly recommended for tractor purchases.

So now is Cub Cadet saying that it's OK for the box stores to sell their products with basically no service at all because they are moving the volume, but small dealers, (let's say those with a good reputation and service) can no longer sell the product just because they don't move the volume? My thinking is Cub Cadet might want to wait a while before trying to play in the league of John Deere, because I think some of their marketing strategies are contradicting themselves.

For the Cub lineup of SCUT/CUT's, from the start it was Kubota, then Mitsubishi, a bit of Diahatsu, and what is it now?? Some overseas Caterpillars and Mahindra? With that kind of mixup of outsourcing, if I were a dealer I would not WANT to repair or supply parts for that type of equipment. Let me see... JD has done things right with Yanmar from day 1 was it?


-Fordlords-

 

[micman32]

I think it's really sad that numbers dictate who can sell what to whom. The big stores carry a few models and some basic parts. They don't seem to care if the thing breaks and needs servicing. You have to call the manufacturer to find the "factory authorized service center" which is usually the local dealer.
I know this first hand because we got our appliances at Home Depot and they basically told me that they just sell them.
I respect that CC wants to increase their sales but eliminating dealers to do this is just plain wrong. Service is crucial if they want to survive. You will not get that at any big box store. Service after the sale is what keeps a customer coming back.
Hopefully my dealer will survive. They sell the complete line. Time will tell.

Michael

 

[JohnSinVA]

Scuttlebutt has it that CC will begin selling Yanmar-sourced compacts as their 2007 lineup. If so that's quite the coup since Yanmar has been building JD compacts for years. But, like I say that's scuttlebutt right now, perhaps a CC dealer in the know could drop an anonymous hint to confirm/deny.

JD has been fairly aggressive with dealers to get them to be single line suppliers. In fact, I believe if you wish to become a JD dealer, you have to be JD only. Multi-line dealers prior to the new policy were grandfathered to remain multi-line. JD can do this because their Ag, Construction, and other merchandising business lines can provide backup capital to absorb any losses they might face from phasing out dealers who won't deal on JDs terms.

CC doesn't have an Ag/Construction business so that doesn't appear to be an option. But wait, there's more. MTD has a huge breadth of OPE lines. Enough so that they might feel comfortable enough in taking JDs approach with their CC line, relying on sales of their other OPE brands as cushion.

Personally, I think CC has a huge hill to climb in the compact market. It's already saturated with plenty of good brand choices, plus their prior offerings have been hit or miss (see the active thread regarding one decision to have CC buyback his machine so he could switch brands). It only takes a few stories like that to make folks weary about spending $12K plus on a machine.

 

[gamble77]

All valid points and all points well taken.

I don't think it is so much that "numbers" decide who will be and who won't be Cub Cadet dealers, it is more the dealers dedication to the Cub Cadet line. In other words I think it would be fine with Cub if a dealer had only 10 Cub Cadet products on their showroom floor. But if they only had 10 units they would need to promote those units and promote the CC brand just as they would their other brands.

I think what you will find is that the dealers that are being phased out are the dealers that don't support the brand and do not push CC's products. What good does it do Cub Cadet if a dealer sells brand X and always promotes brand X over CC??

Every dealer has their reason's for believing one machine is better than the other or trying to "push" one machine over the other. I think what Cub is saying at this point in time is that they shouldn't play second fiddle to any other L&G line...and I for one think they have a very valid point.

As far as the compact thing goes what has been said on this board and the rumors that are floating around seem to be pretty solid. Some things have happened with brand X and brand Y that have allowed CC to step in...but again all of this is not set in stone. We will know more after October...

 

[Chipperman]

JohnSinVA
I have heard the same thing about CC bringing in Yanmar. What I had heard was Cub would be bringing in everything they build for JD plus a few other models. As far as I know the only models they truly build for JD are the 790 and the 990 some of the rest use Yanmar engines but the are not Yanmar tractors. Can anyone shed light on what models they plan to have. I also heard this is no longer rumor, that has been announced at a dealer or other meeting by Cub. Will we see anything at the Louisville L&G show or the National Farm Macinery show?
Good Luck and Happy Tractoring
Chipperman

 

[rbig]

My closest Cub full service dealer is 25mi one way away, in another state. Beyond that, the next one is 55mi. Of course you can buy the smaller stuff at Lowes and Home Depot. There is one shop in my area that works on Cubs--but only the ones purchased at Home Depot or Lowes.

Perhaps a factor in declining numbers of Cub dealers is the Cub policy of pushing the tech support function downhill onto the dealer shoulders. A favorite line at Cub tech support is "call your dealer on that one". So, a long distance call to my dealer, and his typical response is "Gee, I don't know the answer to that one".

All mower shops in our area are backlogged approx 3 weeks. It's not fair to lay it on the dealer mechs to quit working on stuff in the shop and come talk on the phone to answer a freebie question, maybe one that takes a bit of research to find the answer to.