Our first two stories this week illustrates concerted moves to further dealer rationalisation and the rise of multi-branch dealerships:

CNH 100+ BRANCH DEALER GROUP EXPANDS
NASDAQ quoted farm machinery dealer group, Titan Machinery, continues to expand. Founded in 1980 and based in West Fargo, North Dakota, Titan owns and operates a network of over 100 agricultural and construction equipment dealer locations in North America and Europe. The network consists of US locations in 11 States. Its European stores are located in Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. The Titan Machinery locations represent one or more of the CNH Industrial Brands, including Case IH, New Holland Agriculture, Case Construction, New Holland Construction, and CNH Industrial Capital. Last month, Titan agreed its latest acquisition, three branch Case dealership HorizonWest in Nebraska and Wyoming
www.titanmachinery.com.

27 BRANCH JOHN DEERE DEALER GROUP FORMED
Three US John Deere dealerships US have announced plans to merge their businesses. The new grouping, to be named AKRS Equipment Solutions, will operate from 27 branch locations.
The dealerships involved, Green Line Equipment, Stutheit Implement, and Plains Equipment Group will have its headquarters at Lincoln, Nebraska and will operate from across Nebraska and parts of Kansas. Newly appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of AKRS Equipment, Kevin Clark (current CEO of Plains Equipment Group) says. “The size and scale of AKRS is important as the industry changes with new technologies and services,”
www.rurallifetyledealer.com

ALAMO INC
Year end results for 2019 showed sales at $1.1 billion, up 11% over the previous year. However, sales for the agricultural division at $351 million, was down 5% from the previous year. Overall sales were bolstered by three acquisitions during the year, Dutch Power, Dixie Chopper and Morbark (the largest in the company’s history). In the company’s earnings conference call on 27 February, CFO Dan Malone referred to the possible impact of coronavirus. He said that between $40-$50 million worth of components were sourced from China, and that whilst most suppliers were getting back to normal, he anticipated that could a delay of up to four weeks in the production of some models

Alamo Group Inc

RETIREMENT
After 21 years as head of press relations and communication for Deere & Co., the company’s spokesman Ken Golden has announced his retirement.

TRACTOR FROM VOLKSWAGEN

Dezeen magazine
Dutch-based design and research organisation AMO has partnered with car manufacturer Volkswagen to develop an electric tractor.
The concept for the e-tractor forms part of the Countryside, The Future exhibition is currently showing at the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Although few details of the concept have been revealed, AMOand Volkswagen says that the electric tractor was being developed for use in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is being designed to increase the productivity of small-scale subsistence farmers, the organisations said. The vehicle will not be sold to individuals but will instead be rented to villages so it can be shared by farmers.