Kubota franchise

Press, 19 September 1985, Page 31

Kubota franchise

C. B. Norwood, Ltd, sells a wide range of farm machinery in New Zealand, through 50 independent dealers, 11 Norwood branches and six subbranches. It employs about 270 people in its operations, qualifying as the largest agricultural machinery distributor in the country. The company also offers a range of construction equipment in the form of trenchers, excavators and tractor-digger-loaders. C. B. Norwood was formed in 1936 by the Norwood family, managed by Sir Walter Norwood and named after his father, Charles Norwood.

After obtaining the distribution rights in 1947, the company operated basically as an importer of the Massey Ferguson tractor and implement range from Britain. Through the 1960 s and early 19705, C. B. Norwood and Massey Ferguson became market leaders, with the company being renowned for its after-sales service back-up. However, the infiltration of the Japanese manufacturers plus the changes to the economic climate (inflation and rising fuel prices) made profitable operation for a private company in New Zealand more difficult. The combination of these factors prompted Sir Walter Norwood to sell the business

to the Dalgety Group in 1978. In the 19705, C. B. Norwood took up the industrial range of Massey Ferguson equipment and the Ditch Witch trenching franchise from Oklahoma. During this period, the company also bought P. and D. Duncan, Ltd, a manufacturing company of agricultural equipment based in Christchurch. These activities helped to broaden the base of C. B. Norwood from its original Massey Ferguson lines. Further franchise lines have been added since 1979. In 1982, Norwood took on the franchise for importing and selling Kubota farm tractors and mini-excava-tors.

The mini-excavators range in size from 1100 kg to 5300 kg, with six models in the range. The largest, the KH2B, can dig up to 3.74 m and has a dumping clearance of 3.50 m. The smallest, the KH3I can dig up to 1.85 m and has a clearance of 1.93 m. C. B. Norwood is a cus-tomer-oriented company with an extensive parts and service back-up. The head office is in Palmerston North, which is also the location of the New Zealand parts operation. There, in its modern warehouse, the company stocks a most comprehensive range of replacement parts for its products.