European dealers differ vastly from their counterparts in many ways, particularly in the concentration of dealers and sizes of the farms they serve. This meeting with a European dealer-principal and a manufacturing exec from a large multinational company showed how data challenge debates exist everywhere, and that dealer-manufacturer relations remain critical, and remain more art that science.

In mid-April, Chris Frodel, Mid-State Equipment (John Deere) drove over from her store to meet in the conference room at Johnson Tractor (Case IH), Leo Johnson’s store. The length of Frodel’s drive on Highway 14 was a full 4 minutes. That’s how close these two dealerships are in the rich agricultural region of Janesville, Wis. Both are second-generation dealers with siblings as partners (Chris runs the business with her brother Bryan and father Curt Hanson, while Leo does the same with brother Eric) and steadily collected additional stores from small-operation origins. Frodel (44) and Johnson (62) also found a lot of similarities and values in their businesses as they dug in for a candid discussion and what the future may look like.

Part 4: While stressing the term ‘brand alignment,’ Case IH dealer network execs open up about a lightning-rod issue — alternative brands in red dealerships — and what they say the spirit of their wording actually means.