Well I was a little offended by the Mahindra boys comment. Ok not really, but I geuss I'm a Mahindra boy!
There is no way that anyone can perceive that it doesn't in some little way hurt Deere to lose a sale of any tractor. I'm sure they would a lot rather sell all the tractors they are selling now plus the ones Mahindra is selling. They still pretty much rule the US market. However they see real threats. Case in point Mahindra's Deere John ad. Deere came after Mahindra like crazy. Fact! I won't divulge my sources, but it's a fact. Deere perceives Mahindra as a real threat. In my area Mahindra took off strong and changed everybody. When I started shopping for a new tractor I shopped Deere, Kubota, MF, and others. They all had the attitude of "here is my price buy if you want, don't buy if you don't want". Very very little room in price. All were selling good and they had no reason to dicker. A few years down the road I am shopping for a cab tractor. Since the largest one Mahindra makes is 70hp I've looked at Deere, MF, Kubota, and others again. Wow has there attitude changed. They are now wanting to sell me a tractor and willing to deal. Mahindra sales are not other manufacturers sales and that hurts them period. Now I realize that I have no scientific data to link it to Mahindra, but they are the only tractor manufacturer that has come into my area in the last few years.
It's silly to think that Mahindra has the parts network that rivals Deere at this point, but if they continue to grow as they have and improve as they have they may well have one day. To this point I've had no trouble with parts. I've had trouble with the dealer, but not the parts.
Where Deere leads everybody is in Marketing! Think about how many people you see wearing Deere advertising. They really shine. People who know nothing about tractors will grab up a Deere shirt and advertise. It's implanted in so many peoples minds that Deere is best because so many people advertise for them. Go to a farm show or rodeo and you'll see folks with Deere stuff everywhere. People just assume they have a Deere tractor and if they have one I want one.