A different shade of blue for Norwood
Norwood and ARGO Tractors, the Italian manufacturer of Landini and McCormick tractors, have announced an agreement that gives Norwood exclusive distribution rights for the New Zealand market.
Prior to this, Norwood had a network of 25 sites and employed 470 staff nationwide.
“We needed to revisit our business strategy when our dealer agreement with CNH ended earlier this year,” says Tim Myers, Norwood chief executive officer. “We’ve had to look critically at our network size to make sure it reflects our current situation, and there is no doubt we’ve made some hard decisions.”
Sites at Dargaville, Stratford, Westport, and Cromwell will close, with customers transitioned to the nearest alternative Norwood dealership. Meanwhile, Norwood Masterton will scale down and become a spoke of the Manawatu hub, with a team of five staff and support from Norwood Manawatū, then eventually move to a smaller location.
Myers says that sites set too close were selected on criteria that included the company’s ability to service customers either remotely or from the nearest alternative dealership. Dargaville customers will be serviced by Norwood Whangārei, Stratford customers will be transitioned to Norwood Hawera. Westport customers will be serviced by Norwood Greymouth- Dobson, and Cromwell customers by Norwood Mosgiel. Customers whose sites are closing are a priority with affected customers being contacted with details of changes to their dealership.
“We know that field service is key for many of our customers – that will not change,” Myers adds. “We are confident we can continue to provide best-in-class service to transitioning customers and we have the confidence of our supply partners as well.”
He adds that any concerned customers are being encouraged to have a discussion with the dealership manager, who will be aiming to get in touch with them over the coming weeks.
Many staff across Norwood’s network will be affected, with a decrease of 28 roles in dealerships and eight at the National Support Office. These reductions have occurred in the sales, service, warehouse and logistics, procurement, people and capability, and finance teams. The company says this is due to fewer retail sites and less need for support from the National Support Office.
“We want to be clear that this reduction in roles is entirely due to Norwood’s changed situation and not through the fault of the people who have been affected. Our priority is to support staff through this process, so people who are leaving do so with their mana intact,” Myers says.
Norwood will continue to sell and supply a range of agricultural, horticultural, and construction equipment from brands including Kubota, Breviglieri, Horsch, KUHN, Pichon, Väderstad, and Vredo.
