More Plant Shutdowns

[Henry Jay Hannigan]

Mike:
If u think things are bad now, wait til the war ends in a year.
Everybody get ready and hold on. Recommend u plant a veggy garden and
park the bird in a warm climate and ride it out!! LOL
Hank
90SP36
PS clear those credit cards and burn em...I did!






In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Hohnstein"
<MHOHNSTEIN@...> wrote:
>
> Most of us are old enough to have lived through the
Nixon/Ford/Carter years. I doubt there should be much surprise for
any of us as fuel heads for 5 bucks a gallon. There is hope however,
the po' folks over seas is hungry due to the cost of food commodities
spiking, mebbe the oil company haters will get their minds right yet,
and start to use the resources we have in OUR homeland. I'm not
talking about freeking ethanol either, WTH.
> MH
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: birdshill123
> To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 9:11 PM
> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] More Plant Shutdowns
>
>
> It seems like RV plants are either closing or severely cutting
back
> production. The scary part is how fast this is happening. Country
> Coach has laid off a few hundred workers. Alfa is in a state of
limbo
> and if the posts on the Alfa forum are any indication they will
be
> out of business very quickly.( maybe SEE YA was aan appropriate
name)
> The really bad news is as follows:
>
> DES MOINES, Iowa - Motor home manufacturer Winnebago Industries
Inc.
> said it will shut down most of its production lines for a week
> beginning Monday, the result of a continued slowdown in sales.
>
> Low consumer confidence in the economy and interest rates are the
two
> primary factors that affect business, company spokeswoman Sheila
> Davis said Friday.
>
> Although The Federal Reserve has aggressively cut interest rates
in
> recent months, the reduction has not largely reached consumers
yet,
> Davis said.
>
> The curtailment of production at the company's factories in
Forest
> City, Charles City and Hampton will affect a majority of the
ompany's
> 3,000 workers.
>
> A production line in Charles City will stay on the job during the
> week and office workers will remain.
>
> "We take a look at our schedules based on the level we're seeing
in
> the retail market and the wholesale market to our dealers," Davis
> said. "We evaluate that on a daily basis and want to make sure we
> keep our inventories in line."
>
> The company typically only shuts down production for a week
around
> Christmas and a week in late July.
>
> In March, Winnebago reported that second-quarter profits fell
nearly
> 67 percent as consumer confidence helped drag down sales of
> recreational vehicles.
>
> Net income fell to $2.5 million, or 9 cents a share, for the
three
> months ended March 1, down from $7.5 million, or 24 cents a share
a
> year ago. Sales fell 17.5 percent to $164.2 million from $199
million
> for the same period a year ago.
>
> On Friday shares were trading 2.2 percent higher, or 35 cents, at
> $15.79. Shares have traded in the past 52 weeks between $14.96
and
> $34.44.
>
> The Forest City-based company said in March it had cut employment
by
> 9 percent, or about 300 people during the quarter to bring
production
> in line with slowing sales.
>
> President Bob Olson told industry analysts that sales were down
> across the industry in the double digits for each month since the
> beginning of the year.
>
> He told analysts that the usual spring uptick in sales likely
will be
> muted because of concerns over the economy. Olson said he hoped
to
> see a turnaround by November.
>
> END OF ARTICLE
>
> Some of the other mfrs. that closed were smaller mfrs. with
shakey
> management. Winnie is probably an exception. An experienced and
> usually well run company. If they cannot sell units who can?? I
saw
> that Harley has laid off some staff and their sales are down. We
> should not take all of this lightly. I wonder how the high end RV
> mfrs. are doing: Foretravel, Newell and of course the most
important
> of all BB???? I also wonder what is happening with other million
> dollar toys such as yachts?
>
> Bruce
> 1988 FC35
>