Brookton New Holland family dealership Coote Motors has been sold to rival Case IH dealership chain and family business, Boekeman Machinery.
However a 77-year Coote family involvement with the business and a 57-year connection with New Holland agricultural machinery will continue, as third-generation family member Matthew Coote will continue as service manager.
His father Barry, who started as an apprentice with the business in 1969 and took it over from his father John - better known as Jack - in 1975 when he caught the keys as they were tossed to him, is retiring.
The other 10 full-time Coote Motors employees have also joined what from Monday became Boekeman's fifth regional dealership and sixth agricultural machinery outlet.
READ MORE:
Andrew Boekeman, one of the three brothers who now runs Boekeman Machinery - the business their parents Bill and Pam started in 1968 at Wongan Hills and which also has three generations of family involved - has swapped from Northam to Brookton as branch manager.
Mr Boekeman said the Brookton dealership would remain a New Holland agency, continuing a partnership with the brand first established by Coote Motors in 1966.
As well, Boekeman Machinery Northam will become Western Australia's first official Case IH and New Holland "dual-branded" dealership, Mr Boekeman said.
Up until now the Northam branch has been an exclusively Case IH dealership like its Wongan Hills, Dalwallinu and Dowerin Boekeman stablemates.
While Case IH and New Holland brands have both been owned by CNH Global since 1999, until relatively recently in Australia CNH Industrial generally maintained separate dealership networks, particularly in Western Australia.
At one stage, company representatives who worked for both brands had to change shirts with logos, depending on whether it was a 'Case day' or a 'New Holland day' when calling on WA dealers.
"(CNH) have done it (dual branded dealerships) over east a bit since 2021 but there's a model they've been running in North America and they are continuing it," Mr Boekeman said of the dual branding of the Northam branch.
"Where it's justifiable I think they'll do it," he said.
"Unfortunately for them, it looked like there was no possibility of any standalone New Holland dealer coming back to Northam.
"Perkins was the last one there and they shut that in 2018 or 2019 I think.
"When we spoke to CNH Industrial about buying this facility (Coote Motors' New Holland dealership) they mentioned to us if we would be interested in taking on New Holland in Northam.
"They see that as a strong location for their hay line, tractor line and combines line as well."
Mr Boekeman said the wider choice between the two main lines offered at the Northam dealership would benefit customers.
"New Holland has a bigger hay line - the Case and New Holland brands complement each other in that way," he said.
"I've been selling Case combine harvesters all my life, but the New Holland combines have a strong following with farmers who grow the small grains like canola."
Along with New Holland's range of agricultural machinery, Boekeman Machinery Northam will also gain the K-Line Ag range of tillage and seeding equipment, which is also distributed by CNH Industrial.
Mr Boekeman said sales consultant Darryl Verburg had replaced him as branch manager at Northam.
He said the existing New Holland, K-Line Ag, Ausplow, HARDI, MacDon and DBS main equipment lines and smaller lines like Jaydan hay handling systems have carried over from Coote Motors to Boekeman's new Brookton dealership,
They will be supplemented by the addition of Simplicity tillage and airseeder equipment, GrainKing/Nyrex chaser, field and seed and fertiliser bins and the Bogballe range - a Danish three-point-linkage spreader - from Boekeman's extensive list of franchises.
"We believe the GrainKing/Nyrex line will be a really good thing for the Brookton area, they make good chaser bins, field bins and seed and fertiliser bins," Mr Boekeman said.
As well as expanding the range of equipment sold at Brookton, he said Boekeman Machinery also intended increasing local employment.
"We've retained all of the full-time staff and we are hoping to add an apprentice to that shortly and two or three apprentices in 2024," Mr Boekeman said.
But apart from the increased range of equipment and extra apprentices, Mr Boekeman said the new owners did not plan to make major changes to the dealership.
"Coote Motors has been a long established, successful family business and now that Barry is retiring we don't want to change too much," he said.
