Dealer Trends Report

Ag Equipment Intelligence (AEI) is out this week with their “Dealer Trends & Business Outlook” August report, based on the responses from 177 North American farm equipment dealers, representing combined annual revenues of approximately $5.2 billion.

AEI and the Cleveland Research Co. conduct this survey of dealers monthly to provide a “snapshot” of dealer sentiments and to keep industry professionals up to date on significant trends in the farm machinery industry.

Dealers Report Industry Sales Growth of 4% in July: Ag equipment dealers reported year-over-year sales grew 4% on average in July, flat from 4% in June. The only brand that grew sequentially in July was New Holland with an increase of 2%. John Deere dealers maintained sales growth up 9% while Kubota dealers saw the weakest results in the month with sales down 3% on average.

2012 Outlook Raised to 3% Growth: For 2012, dealers slightly lowered their sales forecast and expect 3% sales growth for the full year vs. 4% in June. John Deere, shortline dealers, AGCO and “Other” dealers are the most optimistic this month while Kubota and Case IH dealers report the least optimistic outlook.

Dealer Optimism Index Reflects Uncertainty: Our Dealer Optimism Index, a measure of sentiment among dealers compared to the prior month, improved slightly to a net 19% of dealers reporting they have a less optimistic outlook now vs. a net 23% last month (18% are more optimistic; 44% same; 38% are less optimistic) reflecting some uncertainty related to the Midwest drought conditions and general customer sentiment in recent months.

These are just a few of the highlights of the 35-page report which is included in the AEI monthly newsletter, published by Lessiter Publications.

The well respected newsletter provides ag equipment marketers, dealers and analysts with late-breaking news, analysis and viewpoints on the changing trends in the farm machinery marketplace. If you are not a current subscriber, we suggest you contact Dave Kanicki, the Executive Editor dkanicki@lesspub.com.

Farm Equipment/Ag Equipment Intelligence, Association member since 1970, farm-equipment.com.