The North American Equipment Dealers Assn. (NAEDA) was alerted this week about major brand changes within the AGCO Corp.

According to AGCO, the changes involve a new strategy that will result in the reduction of many of the company’s brands. In a letter to dealers, AGCO announced it will phase out the AGCO brand name over the next couple of years and focus its marketing on comparable Massey Ferguson- and Challenger-branded products.

The overall effect of the changes is unknown, but dealers will have several options to consider in continuing their relationship with AGCO.

When questioned by Farm Equipment magazine on November 11 about rumors of the new brand strategy, Doug Griffin, vice president marketing, North America told the magazine via e-mail, “You are correct that there has been some discussion recently regarding AGCO’s future branding strategy. AGCO will be clarifying this with dealers shortly and we are not prepared to discuss this until after this important communication with our North American dealers has taken place. We expect to also address this during our upcoming dealer meetings.

“We support AGCO’s efforts to inform its dealers about these changes and allow them sufficient time to determine a proper business strategy to shape their future,” said Paul Kindinger, president/CEO, NAEDA.