Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the June 15, 2025 edition of Ag Equipment Intelligence. To view AEI content as it's published, you can subscribe to the monthly newsletter here.
The North American Equipment Dealers Assn. (NAEDA)'s annual Dealer-Manufacturer Relations survey results are out, and Kubota Canada came out on top with the highest average mean score for the full line manufacturers.
Dealers are allowed to rate up to 7 manufacturers they carry and rank them based on their experience in 11 categories, including: product quality, availability and technical support, parts availability, quality and return policy, communication, warranty and marketing/ advertising support with a separate rating for overall satisfaction. Respondents rate manufacturers on a scale from 1-7, where 1 is “extremely dissatisfied” and 7 is “extremely satisfied.”
While the survey results accurately assess dealer attitudes regarding the lines they represent, it is important to note that the ratings represent dealer satisfaction captured in a singular moment. The results could change relatively quickly due to external factors or situations.
In addition to having the highest average mean score at 6.12, Kubota Canada had the highest score in all but once category — product availability — where it finished second behind Claas. Kubota Canada also saw its scores improve over last year in all but one category — product technical support.
Also notable in this year’s results, while New Holland had the lowest average mean score of the 7 main lines ranked at 4.38, it did show an improvement in all but one category. It also had the highest improvement in average mean score, up 4.5% over 2024. The one category in which New Holland saw its score drop was marketing & advertising support, and it was down the most of all the full lines at a drop of 15.76%.
The following are the manufacturers’ performance in each of the studied categories, in the order of what is important to dealers. The numerical scores are based on a scale of 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to 7 (extremely satisfied), while the trending data is expressed in percentage change.
Overall Satisfaction
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.47), Claas (5.77), John Deere (4.89)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+4.56%), Case IH (+3.49%), Kubota Canada (+3.35%), Claas (+2.85%)
- Lowest: New Holland (4.36), Case IH (4.75), Kubota U.S. (4.75)
- Trending Down: Kubota U.S. (–4.81%), AGCO (–4.34%), John Deere (–3.55%)
1. Product Quality
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.16), Claas (5.94), Kubota U.S. (5.41)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+7.65%), Case IH (+7.20%), Kubota U.S. (+3.24%), Kubota Canada (+2.16%)
- Lowest: Case IH (4.02), New Holland (4.36), John Deere (4.89)
- Trending Down: AGCO (–3.21%), John Deere (–2.00%), Claas (–0.85%)
2. Parts Availability
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.24), John Deere (5.77), Claas (5.51)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+5.64%), Case IH (+1.53%), Kubota Canada (+0.48%)
- Lowest: Case IH (4.65), New Holland (4.68), AGCO (4.97)
- Trending Down: Claas (–6.93%), AGCO (–4.24%), Kubota U.S. (–1.87%)
3. Parts Quality
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.31), Claas (6.06), John Deere (5.66)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+6.79%), Kubota Canada (+0.80%), Kubota U.S. (+0.53%)
- Lowest: Case IH (4.84), New Holland (5.03), AGCO (5.47)
- Trending Down: Claas (–2.10%), John Deere (–1.74%), AGCO (–1.08%), Case IH (–0.62%)
4. Manufacturer Response to Dealer Needs/Concerns
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.14), Claas (5.12), John Deere (4.43)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+6.57%), Claas (+6.44%), Kubota Canada (3.54%), Case IH (2.08%)
- Lowest: New Holland (3.57), Case IH (3.93), AGCO (3.97)
- Trending Down: AGCO (–4.34%), Kubota U.S. (–3.55%), John Deere (–0.68%)
5. Product Technical Support
- Highest: Kubota Canada (5.71), Claas (5.69), John Deere (5.09)
- Trending Up: Claas (+4.02%), New Holland (+3.32%), Kubota U.S. (+2.07%), Case IH (+1.69%), John Deere (+0.20%)
- Lowest: New Holland (4.05), Case IH (4.22), AGCO (4.41)
- Trending Down: AGCO (–10.00%), Kubota Canada (–2.06%)
6. Product Availability
- Highest: Claas (5.83), Kubota Canada (5.51), John Deere (5.15)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+10.50%), Claas (+10.42%), Kubota Canada (+9.11%), Case IH (+7.64%)
- Lowest: Kubota U.S. (4.62), New Holland (4.63), Case IH (4.79)
- Trending Down: Kubota U.S. (–4.76%), AGCO (–3.16%), John Deere (–1.90%)
7. Warranty Payments
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.16), Claas (5.4), John Deere (5.0)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+6.81%), Claas (+3.45%), John Deere (+1.42%)
- Lowest: Case IH (4.66), New Holland (4.86), AGCO (4.93)
- Trending Down: AGCO (–3.33%)
8. Communication with Management
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.45), Claas (5.43), John Deere (4.66)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+9.97%), Kubota Canada (+3.70%), Claas (+1.88%)
- Lowest: New Holland (4.08), AGCO (4.13), Kubota U.S. (4.45)
- Trending Down: Kubota U.S. (–5.32%), AGCO (–5.28%), John Deere (–3.12%), Case IH (–0.66%)
9. Warranty Procedures
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.1), Claas (5.31), John Deere (5.04)
- Trending Up: Claas (+5.57%), New Holland (+4.71%), Case IH (+1.74%), Kubota Canada (+1.67%)
- Lowest: New Holland (4.67), Case IH (4.69), Kubota U.S. (4.77)
- Trending Down: AGCO (–3.41%), John Deere (–0.40%), Kubota U.S. (–0.21%)
10. Marketing & Advertising Support
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.04), Kubota U.S. (4.88), Claas (4.86)
- Trending Up: Claas (+4.74%), Kubota U.S. (+2.20%)
- Lowest: New Holland (3.42), AGCO (4.21), Case IH (4.38)
- Trending Down: New Holland (–15.76%), Case IH (–5.60%), John Deere (–4.82%), AGCO (–3.00%)
11. Return Privileges
- Highest: Kubota Canada (6.16), Claas (5.14), Kubota U.S. (4.91)
- Trending Up: New Holland (+3.23%), Kubota Canada (+2.67%), John Deere (+1.04%)
- Lowest: AGCO (4.75), Case IH (4.75), New Holland (4.8)
- Trending Down: Claas (–7.89%), AGCO (–3.46%), Kubota U.S. (–2.00%)
Additional Analysis
AEI provided additional analyses to simplify the results. As such, it consolidated the 12 individual categories into 3 broader areas: product/parts availability, product/parts quality and administrative programs/protocols. The average for the full line manufacturers in product/parts availability was 5.18, product/ parts quality was 5.35 and administration was 4.86. The breakdown of how each individual manufacturer is shown in the table.
A breakdown of the shortline and OPE manufacturer results will be published in the September issue of Farm Equipment.
