field notes IOWA
ARE WE THERE YET?
TOM JUNGE, Iowa Field Director [
tomj@ineda.com]
Are we there yet? We’ve all been asked this before, especially when traveling by car. I’m a numbers guy. When I’m driving I often find myself calculating the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) in my head so I can blurt out the ETA at a moment’s notice.
Unfortunately, it’s not easy to estimate if “we are there yet” in terms of hitting the bot- tom in ag equipment sales. The best I can do is show you where we have been and where we are now.
State of the Industry Survey
Since dealers routinely ask how other dealers are doing, the Association decided to start conducting a State of the Industry survey in 2014. This survey compares the sales, inventory and margins from the cur- rent year to the past year. This year, results represent nearly 40% of all Iowa and Nebraska store locations.
Equipment Sales
Most would agree that 2013 was a peak year for ag equipment sales, particularly for dealers with row crop farmers as customers. The year 2014 was also good for dealers with a substantial number of cattle produc- ers in their trade area. Since 2013, new equipment sales have dropped by nearly 50% year-to-date and used equipment sales fell 33%. New equipment sales have dropped consistently by nearly 20% per year, while used equipment sales dropped an average of 12%, with the largest drop coming in 2015.
Observations: Fewer dealers are utilizing online auc-
tions to quickly reduce used equipment inventories. Dealers report that if used equipment is traded-in at the right price, it sells. The drop in used equipment sales should start slowing down and I anticipate new equipment sales to flatten, since dealers are ordering more new equipment to participate in manufacturer programs and, in turn, needing to move it.
100.0 110.0 120.0
60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0
12 | The Retailer Magazine | Nov/Dec 2013 2014 106.0 106.2 100.0 94.0 86.6 78.9 77.5 2015 2016 100.0
New & Used Equipment Sales – 2013 (Jan. - Sept.) Base = 100 100.0
92.3
40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0
New Sales YTD
84.0 73.3 63.9 66.6 51.2 2013 2014 2015 2016
Used Sales YTD
New & Used Equipment Inventory – 2013 (Jan. - Sept.) Base = 100
New Inventory YTD
Used Inventory YTD
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32