Combines Agco Cat Deal Frustrating

The AGCO rep. was correct; Cat Challenger tracked tractors will, for the foreseeable future, only be sold through the existing Cat dealer network.

Yes frusrating, Mn Cat dealer said "business as usual" No Agco dealers will be able to sell challengers. This means to me no competition and if you want one expect to pay full list price for it. If you have a trade in expect to get 1_2 of wholesale for it even if it is a Cat.

When this deal started out Agco would buy the the Cat MT line. Now Agco is slapping the Cat Challanger name on just about every piece of Agco equipment that was once sold under its original manufacters name. For example, the Agco tractors in the 180 to 200 hp range I saw in the Farm Industry New magazine had the Cat colors and Challenger name on the side. The next thing Agco will do is jack up the price on a generic made tractor.

Yes it is a little confusing. Caterpillar is out of the ag market. Claas has the combine plant. AGCO has bought the Challenger plant and as its owner is responsible for the marketing, too. The dealers have been left in the dark a little. But the contract between AGCO and CAT says that AGCO dealers can sell Challenger tractors as well as the CAT dealers. Now, if those dealers want to sell, is a different question. You simply have to go to your local dealers and talk to the boss there. It is his call if he wants to sell you a challenger and service it.

From what I was told a couple weeks ago at a farm machinery show, from both the Agco and Cat reps. was that Cat wanted more farm machinery in their line and Agco needed a high hp track to compete with JD and Case. So you have a JOINT VENTURE, Cat gets a machinery line from Agco and Agco gets the high hp track system from Cat and they were already doing business with each other(Perkins engines_Cat owned). It is a good business deal for both companies as they both don't have to tool or pay royalities to someone else. Cat is also going to start to market under their name the White_Massey rotary combine as well as the lexion line for now. Cat has just found a way to enlarge their Ag business as has Agco with the Cat track system.

My understanding of a joint venture is, that both partners own 50% of the venture. But in our case here I read that AGCO bought the complete Challenger factory from CAT and Claas bought the CAT shares of the combine factory. That leaves CAT with nothing but being a component supplier for the Challenger and an engine supplier for the combine. The dealers can do what they want besides selling their current products.

Yes, Agco owns the assembly line(DeKalb,Il) and has the rights to market the Challenger with the Agco name. Cat supplies the parts for the Challenger that aren't made in DeKalb and has the rights to market the Agco farm machinery line(including the White_Massey Rotary combine) under the Cat. name. Or Agco is assembling the Challenger for Cat and selling it's machinery(Agco) thru the Cat dealers if they want. Cat has had a deal with Krause Plow for tillage for several years and the Krause people don't know where this is going to leave them(but no changes so far). My point of view is, if Cat and Agco work together with Krause, they will have a superior line of tillage to go with the tractors, combines, haying_forage and planters that they already have. Best that I know of! Almost sounds like Allis Chalmers at one time, doesn't it.

i guess i thought agco had a good line of tillage with the glenco line, also most of the area dealer near me carry brillion august wieser

My personal thoughts are that the krause is a better tillage eq. I have never ran a glenco so i really don't know what i am saying here, that is just my opine. Krause just has the name thing goin for it i guess, and as john deere has proven, it is not quality, but quanity and the name stamped on the side that sells

I have had both Glencoe and Krause tillage tools and the only line close to matching the Krause line is Sunflower for the disks and field cultivators. I have also have had JD(JUNK) and CIH(Good)in almost 30 years of farming. Brillion doesn't have a very good name in my area either, AC and DA and White built them better.