Full Deere construction range bound for Oz

Fresh from its takeover of the John Deere construction and forestry ranges in Australia (except Western Australia), RDO Equipment has announced its ambitious plans for the local market which includes bringing in a full stable of products by early next year, and growing its forestry market share over the next three years.

By early 2020, Australian customers will be able to purchase John Deere’s full construction range including graders, wheel loaders, dozers, backhoes, excavators, articulated dump trucks, skid steer loaders and mini excavators.

The products will be sold and serviced by a strategic dealer network, supported by a new John Deere parts depot and a highly trained team.

RDO and John Deere Construction and Forestry’s leadership team recently fronted the media at the National Diesel Dirt and Turf expo in Penrith, NSW, to unveil the company’s vision for the Australian market.

“The Australian market is very eager for the full line of John Deere equipment. They know that John Deere means quality and reliability – and RDO means an exceptional customer experience,” said RDO Equipment General Manager of Sales, Mark Kuhn.

“There’s still a lot of major infrastructure work across Australia so we expect our first year will include a focus on graders and wheel loaders. And we know there’s a lot of excitement in the market about the new products coming in over the months ahead, including the excavator range.”

Two new excavator models never before seen in Australia were unveiled at the National Diesel Dirt and Turf expo, namely the 37-tonne E360LC and the 22-tonne E210LC. RDO Equipment said it plans to bring the new excavators around the country on a demonstration tour to gauge interest and feedback ahead of their official launches in Australia by end of the year.

RDO will offer Australian John Deere customers an initial eight dealership sites, mostly utilising existing Vermeer facilities. Backhoes, motor graders, wheel loaders and the full forestry line (including log loaders, forwarders, harvesters, feller bunchers and grapple skidders) are available from dealers now, with several new product lines to come. The tentative timelines for their release are:

Kuhn said providing great customer experience will be a core focus for the company moving forward, including establishing and maintaining strong relationships with its customers.

“It’s actually simple stuff that makes good customer relationships. It’s getting back to people, it’s letting them know what’s going on, doing what you say you will do and being accountable,” he said.

“We say that the real work for our customers begins after delivery, with our plan to support them. That might involve cross-training their staff or developing parts consignments so they have parts ready the moment they need them.

“We aim to tailor our service to the customer and have plans in place before our customers have a problem. This is how we build customers for life, another core value for RDO,” he added.

“We have put together a strong team here in Australia, including lots of industry veterans with really solid experience, and all of our people are passionate about the business. We’re 100 per cent focused on the John Deere product.”

John Deere Construction and Forestry Managing Director for Asia-Pacific & Africa, Jeff Kraft, said the OEM is very excited about its new beginnings Down Under and is optimistic about its future in the Australian market.

“This is a strategic partnership for us. We see the Australian market as an important part of our Asia-Pacific and indeed our global brand footprint,” he said.

“We’ve made strong investments in this market and we’re looking forward to working closely with RDO to expand John Deere Construction and Forestry’s profile in Australia.

“We foresee a very positive future here.”