Kioti has taken steps to weed out small dealers and also to prevent dealers from using the internet as their main market to prevent the mega dealer situation.
In the recent past, there was a very large (volume) dealer who dominated a big part of internet sales, He had a web address that made people think they were going to the manufacturers website, where he posted very low prices and offered to ship tractors anywhere. He earned volume discounts from Kioti that actually made it possible to sell to the public at what most dealers PAY for tractors. I think Kioti wisely changed thier policy to prevent internet posting of prices, although I think my dealership would benefit because our costs of operation are lower than many other regions.
We do market our chinese tractors nationwide with internet sales and I'm sure we could do the same with Kioti and Farmtrac if they allowed it. 75percent of our sales are outside the state of Arkansas, nearly all of them chinese tractors. Both customer and buyer know upfront on the Chinese tractors that they will have to either do their own repairs or hire them out becuase in most cases there is no warranty support other than parts from the selling dealer. (there are exceptions like Farm Pro).
IF warranty policies were more liberal (warranty work actually profitable for the dealer) than servicing dealers could stay in business, even if only servicing tractors sold elsewhere, but human nature will likely prevent many dealers from cultivating this market, and all of will will likely feel more loyalty to customers who bought from us and take better care of thier needs than those who bring us a tractor bought elsewhere. We don't separate the sales and service profit centers like the auto dealers have.
To weed out the small dealer, Kioti has reduced the floor plan time before dealers pay interest and require dealers to purchase a minimum number of tractors each fall, needed or not to maintain a competitive discount structure. These things will force small dealers to other brands or out of business. I think we will see fewer dealers and then only in markets that can support a sufficient number of tractor sales per year. I do know that I have several that I will be selling at or below cost if necessary by June 30th because of the shorter flooring times and overall lack of local sales. As for the 1914, I think it is a heck of a tractor, but it does seem to sit on the lot a long time. I like it better than the CK20 gear mostly because of the tranmission and bigger tires. One day I'll learn to order what customers want instead of what I like!
