Argo Closing Doncaster Mccormick Tractor Plant By
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January 15, 2007 Vol. 13, Issue 9 •NEWS FROM EUROPE: - Krone Sets Sales Record - Claas Sales Up By 8.1% - New IVT Transmission Argo Closing Doncaster McCormick Tractor Plant by Mid-2007 McCormick Tractors International, The agreement raised $28 million to up capital, that should tell you what Ltd., a unit of Argo, S.p.A, the Italian help the firm reduce the amount of condition their checkbook is in,”says manufacturer of McCormick and the loan Argo procured when it pur- one industry insider who asked not Landini tractors, announced on chased McCormick in 2001. It also to be identified. January 4 that it will shut down its said that the sale would help to avoid One McCormick dealer expressed operations in Doncaster, England, in further job reductions. frustration with the manufacturer say- 2007. Production of McCormick The shutdown will result in a loss ing it took 2.5 months to get parts to equipment will be shifted to other yet- of nearly 320 of the 350 jobs at the repair a brand new 200-hp tractor he to-be-named facilities in Italy.Tractors site, which will continue to serve as a sold last year. have been manufactured at the McCormick sales and parts distribu- In an interview with AEI on English facility since the 1930s. tion office. Argo is negotiating with January 8, McCormick USA president In June 2006, Argo announced unions on how it will close down trac- Simeone Morra says that the restruc- that it had sold the land on which the tor assembly operations by mid-year. tured operations will have no impact Doncaster plant was located, but that McCormick produces its XMC, MC on U.S. dealers and customers, and is it would retain the production facili- Power 6, MTX, XTX and ZTX tractor aimed at keeping its products com- ties on a long-term, leaseback arrange- models here. petitive ment. At the time, Argo said that the Industry observers say that Argo is “Our objective is to see that the deal did not hail an end to tractor pro- strapped for cash.“When you have to McCormick name continues to grow duction at the site and the company sell your manufacturing facility, then and perform in the global market- had no plans to shift manufacturing. turn around and pay rent on it to free place,” says Morra. “In order to stay Continued on page 2 Slowing Worldwide Markets Will Challenge AGCO in ‘07 With 70% of farm machinery sales coming from markets strength in Eastern Europe offsetting softer turnover in outside of North America,AGCO Corp. finds itself more vul- Western Europe.AGCO sees Eastern Europe, and Russia in nerable to regional pressures than the other major ag equip- particular, as a significant growth opportunity,given aging ment makers.As a result, 2007 could present some particu- Continued on page 3 larly significant challenges in the company’s quest to become the world’s second-largest farm machinery builder. In South America, which accounted for 12% of its sales in 2005, AGCO is projecting industry equipment sales to decline 5-10% as farmers face debt repayments following a 2-year moratorium, according to Bank of America analyst Seth Weber. Farmer income levels in Brazil were projected to finish flat in 2006 reflecting the strong Real and drought conditions, though profits are expected to return in 2007. “On balance, sugar farmers have fared better than corn and soybean farmers,”says Weber.“Tractor sales in Brazil — AGCO has roughly 60% market share — have recovered in recent months, though sale of combines remain low. AGCO’s announced initiatives in South America include lean manufacturing and cost/inventory reductions.” In Europe, AGCO expects flat sales in 2007, with The contents of this report represent our interpretation and analysis of information generally available to the public or released by responsible individuals in the subject companies, but is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. It does not contain material provided to us in confidence by our clients. Individual companies reported on and analyzed by Lessiter Publications Inc., may be clients of this and other Lessiter Publications Inc. services. This information is not furnished in connection with a sale or offer to sell securities or in connection with the solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Continued from page 1 competitive, we have to continually the restructuring of its St. Dizier facil- improve manufacturing efficiencies review the way we structure our busi- ity in France.This facility is responsi- and strengthen our ability to operate ness and, most importantly, control ble for the design, development, man- successfully in the agricultural mar- our operating costs by improving effi- ufacturing and assembly of transmis- ket, positioning the company for a ciencies where possible.” sions for McCormick products. stronger future,”says Morra. Earlier this year, McCormick “We are convinced that the Argo’s sales totaled more than $1 International successfully completed restructure process will significantly billion in 2005. Montana Tractor Sheds Light on Supply Picture at Dealer Meeting Ag Equipment Intelligence attended Montana Tractor’s employed by Daewoo, Hyundai and Kia. Dealer Convention in Springdale,Ark., on January 4-5.The LS supplies Montana with tractors in the 27-57-hp second-annual convention featured a private media session range.While LS is Montana’s primary supplier in this range, that included Rodney Miller, CEO, Bryan Hunt (part-owner), Montana also sources tractors from UTB (Romania) and and two representatives from South Korean tractor manu- TYM (South Korea).According to Kim, LS has plans in place facturer LS (part of the LG Group). Also present was to manufacture higher horsepower tractors in the 72-90 hp Ameriquip, the primary loader supplier for Montana (han- range as well as subcompacts, for which a new facility in dling 96% of its 3,500 loaders this year), which is now the China will become operational in 2008. By 2010, the firm Kiel,Wis.-based manufacturer’s second-largest client. intends to double its unit production to the U.S., from South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, LG is a $100 10,000 to 20,000 units. billion group that consists of three divisions: electronics and At Montana’s Arkansas facility,only final assembly,detailing chemicals (LG), energy and distribution (GS) and industrial and preventive maintenance steps are required, as most trac- electrical/electronics and materials (LS). tors arrive in a semi-finished state.Other suppliers cited during The tractor machinery division (with factories in the event included Koyker,Titan Tire,Nardi and Bradco. Gunpo and Jeonju) is part of LS. It does $200 million in 15 In other news, Montana reported that its “retail sales nations and exports 70% of its product to the U.S. About grew 48% in 2006, when the industry itself was in a freefall,” 8,000 of the firm’s 150,000 employees are housed within says Miller. Hunt talked a great deal about how the primary the LS Cable Division. aim for 2007 would not call for continued significant jumps LS entered the U.S. market through an agreement with in dealer numbers (dealers grew by 42% in 2006), but rather Long Agribusiness (FarmTrac) in 1998, and continues to plans to focus on helping existing dealers sell more aggres- work with FarmTrac as a sub-line supplier today.“LS has sively in 2007.According to Montana staff, 80 dealers sold 20 become a very good supplier of tractors due to its common or more tractors in 2006. experience in auto manufacturing,” said Ju-Chan Kim, LS The convention introduced dealers to the new R series Tractor, citing the continual improvement practices tractors (the first designed with input from the Montana team), discussed solutions to the initial growing pains that the fledgling tractor company experienced and revealed new programs for 2007, which included the strongest aged inventory program that Miller has seen in his career. Much emphasis was given to forthcoming marketing programs that Michael Turley, Route 3 Marketing, is devel- oping to target the rural lifestyle customer.Turley, a long- time veteran of the Osborn & Barr marketing firm, joined Montana after the marketing firm had to back off the account after fellow client John Deere threw a competitive red flag on the firm handling both businesses. With the unexpected death of co-founder J.B. Hunt in November, questions have been raised to AEI about In the 3 years since its founding, Montana Tractors has grown whether the ownership will remain committed or look to its retail distribution from 85 to 355 sites. According to divest the company.Bryan Hunt addressed this saying that Montana officials, 65% of the small tractor market is located the Hunt family and the other owners (Dan Downing and between Houston and Baltimore. Bars represent the number of Charles Goforth) remain committed to the 5-year-plan dealers and the numbers above the the bars indicate how developed in 2004, which includes being a top-5 tractor Montrana Tractor’s sales have grown in the past 3 years. manufacturer in its horsepower class by 2010. AG EQUIPMENT INTELLIGENCE is published monthly for the U.S., Canada and Mexico print subscriptions are $349 per farm equipment industry by Lessiter Publications Inc., P.O. Box year. Save $50 by receiving Ag Equipment Intelligence each 624, Brookfield, WI 53008-0624. © 2007 by Lessiter Publications month via E-mail Internet access at only $299 per year. Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form of this newslet- International print subscriptions are $449 per year. Send sub- ter content is strictly forbidden without the prior written consent of scriptions to: Ag Equipment Intelligence, P.O.