A report from a press conference in the magazine La France Agricole, quotes Loic Morel, president of the French machinery dealers association, Sedima, as stating that "one manufacturer has just imposed a 'brutal' 18% increase".
Despite this rather strong language, he does concede that price increases are inevitable given the major increases in raw materials, especially steel, over the last year. It would appear to be the rate of increase which irks the organisation, which claims to have 2,700 members who account for 70% of the revenue generated within the industry.Sudden jump in prices causes alarm
Smaller increases of a few percent are not the object of Sedima's concern. It seems that they do not cause a major problem in the purchasing process. The difficulties would appear to arise when large increases are combined with the long lead times presently being experienced. A machine priced now, but not available for delivery for several months, may cost a great deal more to make when it is finally manufactured.This is not in dispute, but there is obviously some frustration within the organisation, with manufacturers who "tend to anticipate the increase a little too strongly".
Another issue is that delays in the customer obtaining finance agreements with banks may result in the price being asked at the time of order, being significantly higher than that quoted when the deal was first struck.Dealers demands not being met
Naturally, an organisation representing dealers will be keen to see price stability within the market, a stability that manufacturers are unable to provide at present.Despite this desire to promote the interests of his members, Morel's words should not be dismissed too lightly, for he has stood on both sides of the fence.
For 15 years he worked directly for New Holland, reaching the position of director for France. He then joined the board of the SICOIT group which are New Holland distributors in south east France.