If you own a Farmtrac tractor I suspect your dealer is going to have to find a new supplier or you will have to find a different dealer to deal with. If you are a ex Farmtrac dealer I think you got screwed, but life goes on, if you want to continue being a tractor dealer find a new supplier that you are comfortable dealing with big company that manufactures and has an exec somewhere, or a smaller company that distributes with people you know. Your choice. Excerpted from Gary
Gary it's not that easy. The big companies are trying to reduce the number of dealerships. I don't know why. They say it costs to much. But remember this when you go into a dealership the dealer paid for the real estate and the utilities and all the tools and parts that and all the other expenses. I suspect and I have heard said that if you want a JD dealership now they ask you how many stores you will have. If the answer is 1, 2 or 3 they will not discuss your having a dealership. Years back (maybe 20-25) I considered having a Ford dealership. Ford said I had to have 1.8 million dollars unencumbered capital to be considered for a dealership. I thought if I had that kind of money the last thing I would buy with it would be a job. So you see one reason the Farmtrac dealers are trying so hard to hang on to their lively hood. They are small and don't have the possibility of a big name franchise. Another problem is until the existing inventory on the ex-Farmtrac dealers lots is gone the ex-Farmtrac dealer is considered a bad credit risk. Textron's account is hanging over their heads like the "Sword of Damacles". Always waiting to drop. these people have lived under the stress of these conditions for over a year now. Nothing they can do about it. Why not sell the tractors and be done with it? Tractors in the smaller sizes aren't selling well now. One attorney who has looked at the Textron dealer agreement says if you sell the tractor for less than the invoice cost you are breaking the Textron agreement. Some of us who had money in the bank went ahead and sold (you have to have money to pay the difference between what Textron wants and the invoice amount). So nothing is easy enough that someone who hasn't lived it will suddenly come up with an answer.
Gary it's not that easy. The big companies are trying to reduce the number of dealerships. I don't know why. They say it costs to much. But remember this when you go into a dealership the dealer paid for the real estate and the utilities and all the tools and parts that and all the other expenses. I suspect and I have heard said that if you want a JD dealership now they ask you how many stores you will have. If the answer is 1, 2 or 3 they will not discuss your having a dealership. Years back (maybe 20-25) I considered having a Ford dealership. Ford said I had to have 1.8 million dollars unencumbered capital to be considered for a dealership. I thought if I had that kind of money the last thing I would buy with it would be a job. So you see one reason the Farmtrac dealers are trying so hard to hang on to their lively hood. They are small and don't have the possibility of a big name franchise. Another problem is until the existing inventory on the ex-Farmtrac dealers lots is gone the ex-Farmtrac dealer is considered a bad credit risk. Textron's account is hanging over their heads like the "Sword of Damacles". Always waiting to drop. these people have lived under the stress of these conditions for over a year now. Nothing they can do about it. Why not sell the tractors and be done with it? Tractors in the smaller sizes aren't selling well now. One attorney who has looked at the Textron dealer agreement says if you sell the tractor for less than the invoice cost you are breaking the Textron agreement. Some of us who had money in the bank went ahead and sold (you have to have money to pay the difference between what Textron wants and the invoice amount). So nothing is easy enough that someone who hasn't lived it will suddenly come up with an answer.
