More Plant Shutdowns

[David Brady]

I wonder how the manufacturers of entry-level campers are doing?

Smart business plans always seem to cater to either the Walmart

crowd (pop-up campers), or the tiffany crowd (Prevost or BlueBird),

anything between always seems to take it pretty hard when the

economy turns south.



David

'02 LXi, NC



birdshill123 wrote:

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

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