It’s been a strange year for dealers to say the least. They’re facing the long term effects of a global pandemic and ongoing low commodity prices, as well as an election year in the U.S. In spite of all that, results from the Ag Equipment Intelligence 2021 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends survey show dealers not only beat last year’s estimates for sales in 2020, but they’re now predicting greater revenue growth in 2021 than they did for 2020.
After several difficult years, it looks as if U.S. and Canadian farm equipment dealers are back on firm footing. With that said, probably the best thing the industry can do moving forward is to not compare current conditions to the boom years of 2008-14, which were not typical, and acknowledge that the ag equipment business is actually returning to a more normal state.
When it comes to farm equipment revenue mix, European dealers rely far more on new equipment sales and less on used equipment sales than do dealers in the U.S. and Canada.
It has been nearly 6 years since North American farm equipment dealers expressed the level optimism about their revenue prospects as they have for 2018. In 2012, more than 55% of dealers expected revenues from the sales of new farm machinery to increase in 2013.
Of the 10 agricultural regions covered in Ag Equipment Intelligence’s 2016 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends report, dealers in only two are projecting a pick up in new equipment sales revenues.
While more dealers are expecting new equipment sales to be as good or better in 2016 than they were in 2015, 39.7% of dealers expecting flat equipment sales isn’t necessarily optimistic when sales are already low.
Nearly one-half of North American farm equipment dealers are expecting that full-year revenues from the sale of new equipment in 2014 will be down vs. 2013.
Despite a strong showing in the final quarter (October – December) of 2010 and for the full year, Rocky Mountain Dealerships (RME) plans to scale back on buying any new dealers in the near term.
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There was plenty of technology on display at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., a few weeks ago. Farm Equipment editor Mike Lessiter caught up with Monarch Tractor’s John Issacson and got his take on the top 5 applications in autonomy right now.