Mark Leonard made friends and money with Chinese tractor makers like Jinma, in Jiangsu. Photo: courtesy of Mark Leonard

By Gao Fumao

Look for 'Tytan Tractors' or 'Mark Leonard' on YouTube and you'll find bearded hillbillies extolling the virtue of Chinese farm machines. The hirsute and baseball-capped cultivators in the film are real life farmers who in the made-for-Internet film praise haymaking American dreamer, Mark Leonard who came to China in 1988 to look for affordable tractors for his brothers of the soil.

Chinese tractor makers in the film meanwhile refer to Leonard in reverential tones as the "Father of Chinese Tractors in the USA." Talking to the Global Times from the small town of Kalama in rural Washington State, Leonard tells an unlikely story that acts as a direct riposte to that of Mr. China, the celebrated tale of travails faced by a UK-US business duo who crossed China in the 1990s investing in auto parts makers and meeting no end of chicanery and rogues along the way.

Simple and strong

Leonard tells a different story. It all started in 1979 when he bought three tractors from a neighbor. Made by Weitou Tractor Company (SWT) in Shandong Province, the four machines ranged from a puny 15 horsepower machine to powerful four-wheel-drive model. Painted bright red, the plucky machines did 10 years hard labor on Leonard's 60 acres. "They were very simple, strong and durable," recalls Leonard.

While driving his tractors at the foot of the Oregon hills, Leonard got to thinking about selling good-value Chinese tractors to fellow American farmers. As a salesman he had form: Away from the farmyard he'd built up a successful firm selling hunting and fishing gear around the US.

"I was interested in selling these tractors, since they were good value," he recalls. The opportunity came with a breakdown: In 1988 Leonard contacted the SWT factory to get a crankshaft for one of his machines. Happy to hear from him, the Shandong bosses suggested he come to China to talk about sales in the US. "I decided it was a good idea."

Leonard claims he was the first US tractor buyer into China. He wasn't entirely prepared for the culture shock that awaited on a balmy summer's night on the other side of the Pacific.

"When I got off the airplane in Shanghai's old airport, I thought I had arrived in India. So many people!" People were very friendly, recalls Leonard, "but guarded in what they said." The roads were poor and the air pollution bad compared to today, recalls Leonard, but the people were "very honest."

After visiting the Shanghai Tractor Factory the trip took him southwards to the Ningbo Benye Tractor Company. Leonard decided on Benye out of the various firms he saw in the south. Bosses were friendly and honest. "At that point I had never dealt with any Chinese people and I don't think they had dealt with any Americans. Nobody knew exactly what was possible."

Iron fists

Leonard chuckles on recalling the hard beds he slept in while crossing China with his agent. Apart from Benye, Leonard wanted one more deal before going home. Browsing a pack of photos handed to him by his agent, Leonard picked up on design features of a small company in Jiangsu called Yancheng Tractor Company, also known as Jinma. Discouraged by his agent – "he said nobody ever heard of that factory" – Leonard's eye for a good tractor told him to go.

A long and bumpy road ride into Yancheng was worth it. "Once I went to the factory, I knew they were people I could do great things with. Run by an indefatigable Mr. Chen, the factory "would jump at making every change I wanted" to its 18 and 22 horsepower tractors.

Keenly aware of what America's farmers wanted, Leonard put his own Rhino International brand name on the tractors and traversed American farming country to convince 150 dealerships to take his Rhino tractors. His selling points were simple: The durable, affordable machines beat the competition; "I told them the Chinese tractors were far better quality and design."

With sales growing, Leonard flew back to help his Chinese suppliers add new technology like power steering. "In many cases factory bosses who ruled with iron fists were able to get things done fast." They even improved the paintwork.

Handshake trust

Leonard credits his friendships in China with his success and thinks foreign businessmen, such as those portrayed in Mr. China run into bother here "because they did not have tolerance, experience or total knowledge in who they were dealing with or what they were dealing with."

Chinese factory bosses and technicians came to the US to visit his company to share knowledge on parts and repairs with Leonard's mechanics. "We became best friends." They learned about technology and how to improve production, he recalls. "Most importantly they learned about how we use tractors and their expectations."

It was a business built on trust. Leonard had an agreement in writing giving him exclusive distribution rights. But when it came to money the partnership broke all the rules. "We had 'handshake trust' and I always felt that trust was stronger then any agreement in writing."

Under the arrangement the Chinese factories, still unused to export-production, had more flexibility to ship whatever machines they had ready while Leonard simply had to pay within 90 days. "I worked with them on taking products they had available and they gave me easy way to pay. I was never late."

Changed market

Eight years into the business Leonard sold out to the larger Alamo Group. By that time his orders from China had hit $2,300,000 every quarter. A non-compete clause in his deal with Alamo kept him out of the tractor business for three years. But in 2004 an old friend from Benye, Wu Xuliang, convinced him to dip his toe back into the tractor market and Tytan International Inc. was born.

Five years on he has a new range of machines, made by SWT in Shandong, ready for marketing under the slogan 'Simple, Strong & Affordable.' Tytan may repeat the success of Rhino, but it'll be harder. The US market has changed drastically from the late 1980s: given a flood of low price machines from Korea and India buyers are choosy and "shop for tractors with the same watchful eye as one shops for TV sets or digital cameras."

Leonard has got the connections to get back his crown. He credits Benye's Wu as "an extremely good negotiator" helping Tytan get the best deals in China. In the US Leonard has rebuilt his dealership network and started selling again. He predicts Tytan "will evolve into a very large company."

Where Leonard forged the path, others have followed. Large multinationals had been watching Rhino International and have pounced on all his old partners. The world's biggest farm machinery maker, John Deere bought Benye. Indian-based Mahindra grabbed Jinma.

"They only went after the tractor factories that worked with me," Leonard insists. Proof perhaps that, as the old-timers in that YouTube movie suggest, he deserves his title as "Father of the Chinese Tractor in the USA."

gaofumao@globaltimes.com.cn