Just Released: 2024 Rural Lifestyle Dealer Business Trends and Outlook

Explore what this niche needs most from its equipment manufacturers and partners

2024 Rural Lifestyle Dealer Business Trends & Outlook Understanding dealers' forecasts and concerns — as well as the history of those sentiments — is the key to succeeding in the rural lifestyle market. The insights from this report are intended to help your business understand how to further penetrate the rural lifestyle equipment marketing and what this niche needs most from its equipment manufacturers and partners. ORDER NOW & SAVE 50% Rural lifestyle dealers are forecasting 2024 to be their most unique year in the last decade. These dealers, who serve homeowners, hobby farmers, landscape contractors and municipalities, had a strong 2022 and 2023, but are predicting new challenges for 2024. After dealing with — and continuing to battle — a mix of supply chain issues, rising interest rates and increasing costs of new equipment, their outlook has shifted vs. previous years.   Some highlights from the latest survey include: This section of the report examines farm machinery ownership among farms, including a breakdown of tractor ownership by horsepower over the last 20 years. Farm equipment ownership is also categorized by the estimated market value of a farm’s owned machinery and equipment. Looking at their areas of concern and optimism for the year, aftermarket stands out as a strong revenue opportunity. Service revenue outlooks were once again positive overall, with 61.5% of dealers forecasting it to increase in 2024, and another 61.5% forecast the same for 2024 parts revenue. For 2023, 46% of dealers estimated their wholegoods revenue was up 2% or more year-over-year, beating previous year expectations when only 22% forecast an increase. When asked which equipment they saw at their “best bets” for improving unit sales in 2024, over half of dealers forecast their zero-turn mower sales up 2% or more, making it the #1 pick for 2024.  This year’s report saw dealers continue to trend toward higher shop rates. The highest percentage (42%) of dealers are charging $101-$125 per hour, up from 39.4% in the last report and a 5-year high. Dealers’ top concern for 2024 (measured by how few dealers are “least concerned”) was the impact rising interest rates will have on customer purchases. On this issue, 76.8% of dealers are “most concerned” and 19% are “concerned.” This year’s report saw dealers trending toward carrying more brands. The percentages of dealers carrying 6-10 brands (35.5%), carrying 11-15 brands (8.6%) and carrying more than 15 brands (11.8%) were all up year-over-year and all reached 5-year highs. ORDER NOW & SAVE 50% To paint a clearer picture of the new challenges and opportunities dealers are facing, Ag Equipment Intelligence compiled the results of the Rural Lifestyle Dealer Business Trends & Outlook reports dating back to 2014. This analysis breaks down dealers’ forecasted revenue changes, equipment unit sales, brand offerings and more. Data from the latest survey (compiled in January 2024) is segmented to compare equipment dealers by the tractor brands they carry and by their reported number of employees.   The insights from this report are intended to help your business understand how to further penetrate the rural lifestyle equipment market and what this niche needs most from their equipment manufacturers and partners. Order your copy of Ag Equipment Intelligence's 2024 Rural Lifestyle Dealer Business Trends & Outlook report today and save 50% OFF the list price! Best regards,   Ben Thorpe Associate Editor Ag Equipment Intelligence 262-777-2425 bthorpe@lessitermedia.com Copyright ©2024 Lessiter Media 16655 W Wisconsin Ave, Brookfield, WI 53005 USA All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? Update your email preferences or unsubscribe from this list