Are These Tractor Brands Really Going Out of Business?
Does this tractor company really needs to go out of business?
here is Neil Messicks video that I talked about in this video:
https://youtu.be/GZlafLrdUro?si=mb1WG4vs0PLVYg5f
@MessicksEquip
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The tractor Market has historically Always been a duopoly between cabota and John Deere historic it's been what the Tractor Market has always been a duopoly Between cabota and John Deere well cabota didn't enter the US Market until 1972 with a compact tractor And there are a bunch of companies like Farmall and International Harvester and Ford and all kinds of tractor companies That had owned the market and probably Underestimated cabota coming in with Their little orange machines and their Foreign sounding name and if you'd went Into a Farmall dealership in the 1980s They would have said you know don't Trust that you know you don't know how Long they're going to be around and you Need to stick with an American company That's been making tractors for the last 70 years and they would have been wrong So it's always a mistake to Underestimate the new guy in the market So I started out this video playing a Clip from Neil messic of messic Equipment here on YouTube an Neil is Also a owner and operator of a cabota Tractor Dealership and I've watched a lot of Neil's videos I think he makes great Videos that provide a lot of information Especially for new tractor Owners but the other day he published a Video that had several points I
Disagreed with and towards the end he Made a couple of comments that I Actually took Personally which has resulted in me Making this video so I want to do this As respectfully as possible I don't know Neil personally but he seems like a Great guy and he he knows the tractor Industry he probably knows more about Tractors than I ever will but the great Thing about opinions is that everybody Gets to have one and Neil has a right to Voice his opinion on a topic and this Channel is my space to voice my opinion And you are entitled to have your own Opinion and disagree with both of us and The great thing is we can all respect Each other even when we Disagree so Neil's video was basically Saying that K cabota and John Deere own The compact tractor market and there are Way too many comp Brands competing Underneath them for the remaining market Share and that he believes some of those Brands will go out of business so I Think I want to go through this in order Starting with things I agree with Neil About and things I disagree with him About and then what I took personally so Things I agree with Neil on is that There's a possibility some of the Tractor companies go out of business and That was his main point and I sort of Agree with it and I would also say that
In a free market Society companies that don't perform Need to go out of business everything Should be Merit based if you're not Putting out a good product at a good Price then the Market's not going to Support You now the part I'll get to in a minute That I disagree on that same topic is That we know which ones will go out of Business based on their current Size Kabota was one the new guy and the Companies that were on the top when K Cabota started are now being listed by Neil as being at the bottom the next Point that Neil made that I agree with Is that the consumer needs to educate Themselves about the company they're Buying from to assess the long-term Value of the tractor or any product that They're buying because if a company Fails longterm then the product you Bought from them will lose resale value And it will be harder to get parts from Them that was a major point that he made And I agree with him and then there's a Fact he said history will repeat itself Meaning that in the past there have been Competitors that came up to challenge John Deere and presumably Kabota and Those companies some of them have went Out of business but in my mind that's Not what I would read as history Repeating itself when I hear history
Repeating itself I hear that in the same Way that cabota disrupted the Market another company could be primed To do the same thing and I would also Say that everything changes over time And there are big companies that we Thought would always be power Brokers That are just gone Now Sears went out of business I mean Like nobody is too big to fail so that Would be my definition of history Repeating itself the next thing I want To say and the next several things will All be taking numbers from Neil's video Neil said that he knew for a fact that At one point K cabota and John Deere Represented 80% of the market and he Said that he believed that number had Most likely declined to between 65 and 75% but his best estimate was that that Number is now 70% of the market so According to Neil the two big companies at the top Have declined from 80% market share to 70% that decline from 80% to 70% is a 133% decline in their market share it Sounds like 10 but losing 10% of the 80 They had that's 133% of what they had And if I was at the top of a market and I saw that the the next competitor was Gaining on me at that rate and I had Lost 133% of the share I had I wouldn't Be like see boys you all should go out Of business I'm at the top I'd be like
Uhoh I have a problem because I'm losing Ground from where I was and that's how I Would think about it somebody else is Gaining ground the next one is just Numbers and I'm taking his numbers Because he said these are publicly Available official numbers in the Industry total tra sales then he Extrapolated from that what he believes John Deere and kabod are selling and What is left and he said that what is Left is 45 to 63,000 tractors sold Between 12 Brands all of that is Neil's Information not mine but the next Sentence and this may sound trivial or Like I'm making too big a deal about These numbers but his video was based on Numbers so that's the numbers we're Going to talk about right now he said 45,000 to 63,000 tractors per year being sold Between the other 12 Brands and he said That means most of these brands are Selling between two and 4,000 tractors Each well I don't think Neil was trying To misinform us but that's not math the Math when you take 45,000 to 63,000 Divided by 12 companies means each is Selling between 3,750 and 5,250 and that's close just math in my Head here that's like close to a 50% Difference between the numbers the math He did in the video and what the numbers
Actually are And there are a couple of those Companies that have very little sales at All so there's several competitors They're getting a a pretty good Number now here's something I found Really interesting is that Neil's Dealership sells Kabota and New Holland Primarily cabota first New Holland is Their secondary brand and he said John Deere and kabod are the Kings everyone Else is in trouble except for New Holland that I Sell well why did he make an exception For New Holland it's not I'm sure it's not Because he sells them it has to be for Another reason and he gave us a very Logical well-explained reason and that Is that New Holland is a success ful Company selling large a tractors And they have a valuable brand that they Want to Protect and so even if the compact Tractor sales aren't what they need to Be they have the infrastructure to Support that compact market and they Want to protect their brand so they're Going to continue to support their Product and that really makes sense I I Bet that's right because if they were a New company that just started up and had That same sales number they wouldn't Have the infrastructure to keep going
The problem With that that story that he told There's two problems first is New Holland doesn't make their compact Tractors LS which is one of the other 12 Companies that we're worried about Failing makes at least a portion of the New Holland tractors compact tractors And before that deal there was another Company making them so they're not even Making their own tractors but that's More the minor problem the secondary Problem with that conversation is all of The other brands or almost all of the Other brands you could say the exact Same thing there are several Legacy Brands that are still doing really well With the large a tractors or they are in Construction equipment like a Yanmar or like case and Farmal and several of the other brands Are still making big tractors and then You could say the same thing about Bobcat and bad boy having tractors they Don't have to be completely profitable On their own with the compact tractors Because they're already doing so much And then the other Brands that you can't say that about Those are gigantic multinational Companies even the very smallest Competitor in the US tractor Market Brand new probably has almost no sales To the this point is soulless and they
Are sold in 140 companies countries and They are like fifth in the world in Tractor Sales so there's no new companies just Starting out from scratch and like Trying to figure this out and to tie Into that point these tractor brands are All Co-mingled because Neil made the point That he used to sell CubCadet tractors And some of those CubCadet tractors were Discontinued CubCadet no longer makes Tractors now you can't get parts for Them Well you may not have to worry about That as much as he made it sound like Because I'm going to pick a random Example here let's say Bobcat decided They're going to quit selling tractors I Don't think they will I think they're Just going to continue because the Bobcat is so strong in other areas that They can support the compact tractors But if Bobcat decided not to sell Compact tractors anymore would you still Be able to get parts for them well Bobcat's going to try to maintain their Reputation and make those parts Available and besides that Bobcat Doesn't make their own tractors coyote Makes those tractors so as long as you Know the comparable model if Bobcat says We no longer sell compact tractors you Can go and get parts for your Bobcat
From coyote and the bigger point to all Of this is that I feel like it's kind of Fear-mongering to say let's only support The big companies because these big Companies will always be here for us and Don't you know it's it's it's playing on The consumer fear that your tractor Won't be worth anything is it possible That's true sure but I don't really Think it's a k cabota dealer job to Convince you of that so Neil made the Comment in his video that they can sell Products on their own without throwing Stones at another brand but man is he Out here throwing some Stones that's What that's what I heard in the video He's saying don't trust those other Brands they might go out of business and These companies are not going out of Business while there is some chance that They stop selling compact tractors in This market the next comment that Neil Made that I've kind of already addressed But I'm going to address it a little bit Differently is he said if you look at The market today it's a necessity that Some of these companies drop out because It's not sustainable for deer and cabota To have 70% of the market and the other Companies the other 12 companies can't Survive on 30% well I talk to regular people all The time who come up to me at a show or In the comments or send me an email or
Facebook message and they say I'm tired Of this problem with deer or this Problem with K cabota and I'm going to Switch and whatever they have to say or I've seen them at homesteading shows and They're like man I just can't pass up This price difference on this other Brand and I see a swell a ground swell Of people who are interested in some of The other brands so Neil dismissively Said it's not sustainable for these two Brands to own most of the market and These other companies Survive it is quite possible that cabota And John Deere used to have 80% and now It's 70 and in 10 years it'll be 50 and All the other brands can survive on that 50% and you never know where the Market's going to go so it doesn't Bother me at all that a cabota Dealership would try to promote K cabota As being a good option in the market That's his job that's how he earns his Living it'd be um malpractice or you Know it to not do that he has to right And I think it's great that Neil is Doing such a good job of promoting the Brands that he's affiliated with that's His job just like when I take a product From Woodland Mills it's my job to Highlight the things I like about it but I will not go to another brand of Mill And say that I think they're going out Of
Business and that's what I took Personally about Neil's video I will Play you exactly what he said so that I'm not misquoting him so how do I wrap This up buy stuff from me no it's not Really the point here right uh you could Be cynical and look at things that way But you full disclosure I sell cabota in New Holland we are normally very Cautious when making YouTube videos About discussing other tractor companies Because of you know negative perception That come along with that we can sell Our products on our own merits and we Don't need to throw stones at others in Order to do it I feel like there's a Discussion here and awareness that is Missing from the tractor business today If you're paying attention to you know Social media influencers that you know Make a lot of noise with a sponsored Tractor that they have if you're you Know seeing a lot of paid advertising From did you well I don't know it's Probably just me because I'm in this Business I make you YouTube videos about Tractors but did you notice some pretty Strong condescension in the way he chose His words there to say when you see These YouTube People making a lot of noise influencers Making a lot of noise about other Brands like you mean just talking in our Videos like you're
Doing is it okay for me to say I like Woodland Mills or any of the other brands I've Ever worked with Is it okay for You am I being am I being over sensitive Is this a me thing or is it was that in There so let's see if you're paying Attention to you know social media Influencers that you know make a lot of Noise with a sponsored tractor that they Have if you're you know seeing a lot of Paid advertising from companies you Might lose this perspective of what the Actual tractor business really looks Like so I'm making noise and he sharing Important Information I just I needed Clarity on That so what I want to say Is what if there's a company right now That's making the best tractor on the Market and then selling it for less than The Competitors do you want to know about it Or would you rather just say I like only Having two Options I'd rather only have two Brands Out there so I don't have to Compare what I can tell you is the if You want to only buy John Deere tractors The best thing that can happen to you is A lot of competition because it's going To put pressure on John Deere to perform And give you a good machine at a good
Price competition is important in this Market and if if there is a manufacturer Out there who's making a great tractor At a great price somehow you have to Find out about it well how are you going To find out they're going to have to Advertise in some way to get their name Out out there to get some business and Whenever I'm riding around in my truck I Hear radio commercials for John Deere I Hear radio commercials for K cabota and Some of the other brands and they're Paying money for that to try to Influence you and convince you to buy One of their tractors that's called Marketing when I talk to tractor Brands They're trying to get country music People to endorse them we'll give You to say that you love this tractor Wear our hats put it on a NASCAR they're Spending money to promote their Tractors and then you've got people who Own dealerships and they're promoting And they're spending marketing and They're making YouTube videos and then The last Bottom Rung of how you Market Apparently is you can send one of these Tractors to me say we're going to Provide this to you we want you to use It in your videos and say what you think Now out of all those things I mentioned Which do you think personally is the Most trustworthy thing so at most There's between eight and 12 people I'm
Aware of that have a sponsorship with a Tractor brand and I personally know Almost all of those people and they are Phenomenal salt ofth Earth people That just they're not this isn't a big Corporation it's just some guy with a Camera and some land and he's making Videos using his tractor doing the best He can and I'd rather see that guy Benefit rather than a marketing Agency and I'd rather get my information From that Guy now to close all this Out I think Kabota makes a fantastic Tractor everyone I've ever talked to who Owned a Kabota really liked It so I have nothing negative to say About cabota I've never heard someone Come on here and complain I had a Kabota And I hated it they might be the best Brand in the world so I wasn't trying to Say anything negative about Cabota I just disagreed with Neil's Video a little bit and Neil probably Won't like my video either and that's Okay we we don't all have to agree but I Appreciate you taking time to watch the Video I'll put links on the screen to a Couple more of our videos and I'll see You next time
