Jeffersonville, OH | SimonSays - 11/29/2024 11:09
Chris, should agco change its company slogan to "Allis Chalmers is dead, get over it"?
I get it, Allis had some good stuff. So did a lot of other brands that are no longer. But to think that suddenly painting tractors orange and putting ac on the side is going to sky rocket sales is just foolish.
People say they want simple and easy-to-fix equipment, yet when those are offered, sales don't follow.
Doesn't matter what they say, people will never let it go. It starts at the dealer IMHO. We sold Orange right up to the end, sold 11 of the Legacy edition tractors in 2011...by 2013 we had traded half of them back in for new MF branded units. People didn't buy because they were orange, they bought them because our name was backing them...We never bad mouthed AGCO, we never told our customers how bad we missed Orange paint, we just said "It's a decision that makes sense globally, it's the EXACT same tractor, and here's what we do different that the competition." Guess what, it must have worked, because other than a handful of customers that have an 8030 and want a new tractor but "just can't justify buying a new one for my acres anymore, but I sure wish I could get an Orange one" we never get asked who Massey Ferguson is.
Every statement you made is 100% spot on...White had good stuff, as did Oliver, MM, Cockshutt, AC, and even Deutz Allis...but the fact is the reason AGCO is 3rd in sales is the dealer network is smaller...and there is a MOUNTAIN of reasons why that is, and AGCO is NOT to blame for all of them. Some, absolutely, but not all. Some dealers may have been "pushed" out, but I bet they weren't doing squat anyway. There's always 2 sides to every story, and you think a Dealer is ever going to tell their customers that they had anything to do with losing a contract when it's MUCH simpler to just say, AGCO took it from us and Grandaddy is rolling in his grave now. Give me a break.
As for the "easy to maintain equipment" I can still get you a 200hp tractor with mechanical hydraulics and as few of electronic modules as is possible, but guess how many get sold a year? People say they want that until they operate something with electronics and realize how spoiling it becomes, how much more efficient you are, and how you don't feel beat to crap at the end of a day in a tractor. Because facts are, the mechanical stuff on new models isn't enough cheaper to make it saleable.
There are a LOT of problems in this industry as a whole, some customer related, some dealer related, and some OEM related...I'm never going to say that all are even fixable...but I will say that I will ONLY ever devote energy to the ones I can actually help resolve. Be it trying to find more technicians for my dealership, try and train my folks better, or even pass knowledge along to other dealerships that can't find it, I will not waste my time trying to change things that I have no control over.
Bottom line, if you don't like AGCO, fine...there are other options...but if you have an AGCO dealer in your area, there is a decent chance they may be a GREAT dealer with people who actually give a hoot whether you walk in their door or not...they may also be an old dealership surviving on parts and service business without a care in the world of selling anything modern...somehow it seems there's very little in between with old AGCO dealers.
With other colors, by sheer statistical probability, there is a better chance it's a corporate operation that may or may not have a decent set of employees at that given location that give a single darn about what you do for a living, and may only be there because that place was hiring. Am I generalizing, absolutely...but once again, it's ALWAYS going to come down to the people YOU decide to work with. Not Deere, Not CIH, and not AGCO...but the PEOPLE that you interact with as the liaison between your operation and whatever Global manufacturing company you choose to work with.
AGCO does read here some...not going to say Eric Hansotia does, but I know for fact that it is looked at, because I have gotten calls about threads and my posts here in the past. Now, I doubt any one thread will change the direction that AGCO's management team has, but you know what, they just may see something they haven't considered.
As for Allis Chalmers...forget it. AGCO doesn't own the trademark, and is not interested in trying to figure out who does, and what they think it's worth. I've heard rumors of what it was priced at the last time it was asked, and I wouldn't want them to spend that kind of money on a name anyway. For the price I've heard thrown around, we could do a TON of updates to the Gleaner combine and be way better off than an Allis Chalmers tractor for 100 people to buy, and 1000 people to call and price and be disappointed that they still can't afford or justify one.
I guess I lied about only being a reader on this thread
Chris |
AGCO and TAFE
