Canterbury Machinery Dealer Goes Exclusive

Media release for immediate use – Thursday January 29

Prominent Canterbury Machinery Dealer Goes Exclusive

Canterbury agri-business founder Greg Carr has this morning announced his dealerships in Ashburton, Timaru and Templeton will become part of the Landpower Dealership Network, exclusively offering European brands CLAAS, Amazone and JCB .

“Greg Carr has a longstanding reputation of excellence as a supplier of agricultural machinery,” says Landpower CEO Richard Wilson. “Greg’s family-owned business puts customers first, so he is well known for the extraordinary lengths he goes to in after-sales service. Landpower and CLAAS have pursued Greg to become an exclusive supplier because of that reputation.”

Greg Carr says meeting the Claas family and its senior business managers in Germany convinced him the family-owned company’s values and vision match his own.

“It’s all about family,” he says. “My family owns and runs this business to support farming families. The Claas family is passionate about supporting agricultural farming and Landpower is New Zealand’s only importer of CLAAS machinery - and also family owned. We are all focused on giving farmers premium products and support that is second to none.”

Greg Carr says he researched CLAAS and Landpower’s product development plans and is confident they offer an exciting future for farm machinery in coming decades. He says the paintwork and signage will soon change on his dealerships, but the people and philosophy will not. “I believe in having good local people offering the best products and service – and that won’t change,” he says.

BACKGROUND FACTS

Landpower Group

• Founded more than 32 years ago in Southland and still privately owned by founder Herby Whyte and his family

• Employs approximately 200 staff throughout New Zealand and Australia

• Has an annual turnover of over $150 million

• Has 13 dealerships throughout New Zealand and a partnered network dealership with more than 60 outlets in Australia

• In 2008 alone, Landpower imported approximately 850 containers of new farm machinery, parts and associated equipment, half of which came into New Zealand. In addition Landpower imports large machinery, such as
combine, forage and potato harvesters, large tractors and balers

• Landpower is New Zealand’s exclusive importer, sales and after sales service agent of Amazone, CLAAS, Grimme and JCB farm machinery. Each of these brands is a significant, global, family-owned and operated business

CLAAS Group

• CLAAS was founded in Germany in 1913 and is still privately owned by the founder’s family

• Employs 9100 staff and last year had a turnover of NZ$6.9 billion

• Represented in more than 140 countries worldwide

• Each year spends more than NZ$300 million on research and development for new machinery technology, operating efficiency gains for new machinery and after-sales service delivery to customers. CLAAS also operates an
extensive new machinery testing programme in New Zealand for its worldwide equipment design

• Holds a 55% market share of all Forage Harvesters sold worldwide and 27% of all Combine Harvesters sold worldwide

• In 1987 CLAAS appointed Landpower as its exclusive importer and after-sales service partner in New Zealand and has two permanent staff in Australasia to provide continuous on-site technical sales and service support to
Landpower

Carr Group

• Greg and the Carr Group has been involved in agri-business in Canterbury for the past three decades

• Includes agri-business sales and servicing, technology, importing and exporting

• Employs around 120 staff

ENDS –

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