Similar story to JD Sellers below

Bob Bancroft

Well-known Member
Location
Aurora NY
When AC died, the local dealer carried on with Agco, but with diminished sales. They had carried NH, NI, Bush Hog, Brillion, and many short lines, and eventually decided to go with NH as their predominant line. Eventually the Agco contract got down to parts only. The three county Oliver dealers were long gone, and two of the best mechanics in the county, who had been with Oliver, ended up here. It got so most of the tractors going through the shop were Oliver/White. After much contention, Agco finally summarily dropped them a couple years back. $200,000 annual parts business cut off just like that!
 
The only reason to keep them on would have been "loyalty" but you know there is no such thing as loyalty in business these days.

That $200,000 in parts sales will simply disperse to other dealerships who are doing much larger volumes. The need for parts and service doesn't go away when a dealership closes. Corporate still gets their money and that's all they care about.
 
Yep, I am not that far away so I have heard a fair amount about the situation. AGCO is simply dying around this area in terms of product sold and parts needed. When the early waves of Mennonites came north from PA they brought MF and Oliver which needed parts and service support. I know of a couple Mennonites who still have either of those two makes but the rest are either JD or CIH. I would not want the task of starting an AGCO dealership from scratch around here. It's back to earlier times but with one important exception. Guys are looking at the used row hard again for tillage and guys are not buying pull type hay and forage equipment like they were a generation ago.
 
...and who are you punishing by doing that? Unless you're spending millions every year on big equipment and parts, they're not even going to notice you're gone. You might even get a "don't let the door hit you on the way out" if you're one of those annoying "yappy dog" customers that complains about every little thing and only buy a few dollars in parts every year.

The operations that closing that dealership affected are the ones running 20, 30, 40+ year old tractors, who can't just up and switch colors. It's one thing if you lease and trade every 3 years, but completely different when you've owned the tractor for 40 years and are still farming with it.

Those guys are only punishing themselves, costing themselves money. Odds are their business won't survive such a "temper tantrum."

Righteous indignation feels good but it doesn't put food on the table at the end of the day. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and deal with the devil.
 
I feel no brand loyalty, as I have no money invested in the manufacturing or sales of any equipment, or auto company. And I will go where I can get the best deal , and service. I was all J.I. Case, then IH, then on to CaseIH. They started to annoy me , so I tried a Ford, only to watch them disappear into the CNH banner. Now I buy Kubota, from my former CaseIH dealer , as he dropped CaseIh in 2014. I can't hardly get a look from the big JD dealer here, so my business is their loss. The heart of MF/Agco is still beating, but it is weak. I can't even think of anyone I know that runs MF now.
 

All I see in my area is JD and Case/IH stuff. Us small operations have Kubotas, NH and Mahindra, although my near neighbor bought a good size Case/IH with cab and loader as a retirement gift to himself. A couple of guys (nearby neighbors) still have Fords and New Holland but that stems from having a good local dealer back a few years ago. They've since moved away and consolidated a couple of locations into a former Saturn dealership. Looks like they are into the construction equipment more now than ag stuff. One of these neighbors has a sweet little Ford 3000 with a loader that I would love to have if he ever decides to sell it. All I ever see him use it for it to run a grain elevator at harvest time, then back in the barn it goes.
 
I was an insurance adjuster for 47 years handling everything from slip and fall claims at Wal-Mart to commercial and farm claims. 30 years ago I worked for a company that catered to both small and large agencies that existed in small towns and large cities and had been in business 75 years. Then some of the bright Wall Street types decided unless one had first 250k a year in premium they would be eliminated. Then it was 500k and finally one million. Well, even the large agencies decided they might be next so moved all their business to other companies. Finally 20 plus years ago the original company was sold outright for pennies on the dollar but the upper management picked up millions is golden parachutes. This company was Continental with headquarters in Glens Falls N. Y. with the picture of the Continental soldier that graced thousands of places across the nation. No, business or personal loyalty is no more when it comes to business.
 

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