American RVs becoming antiques (1 Viewer)

[TJ-RV]

Don't know if y'all have been following the woes of the RV industry in the US. A number of manufacturers have been in trouble for a while. Some closed their doors last year, while others furloughed plants and workers for extended periods.

Thanks to the banking/financial mess, what few buyers exist aren't able to get loans for their purchases, leaving dealers with large inventories which, in some cases, have to be re-purchased by the manufacturer. Meanwhile, new orders have all but dried up, so there's little or no demand for the factories.

Country Coach in Junction City, Oregon went into bankruptcy last year. The latest casualty is Monaco in nearby Coburg, Oregon. They were on extended furlough and were hoping to get some financing that would allow them to stay afloat. Last year, they announced the closing of 3 facilities in Indiana, but then seemed to do an about face. This week, they issued termination notices to almost all employees, leaving only 140 admin and sales-related people who are charged with getting rid of the remaining inventory.

Here's a notice on Monaco's web site, and here's an article on the web site of a local TV news. Be sure to watch the video also.

Across the street from Monaco's facility in Coburg, Marathon Coach, a high-end Prevost bus converter, has been on furlough &/or reduced hours.

Travel Supreme previously closed their doors, and several other manufacturers appear to be on the brink of going belly up.

This a pretty sad state of affairs, and we can only watch and shake our heads as an industry literally evaporates.

 

[Jim]

Maybe this is a good thing. Seems to me that the RV as we know it is a dinosaur anyway. When the up-turn happens, in 3, 5 or even 10 years time, I think the new RV industry will look at more economical units. The days of putting an 8.1L engine in a five ton 24ft RV are over

 

[Tony Santara]

Tom
It's a sad state for all of us, some people reckon we're heading towards a depression like 1920's era. The UK is also having bad times with factory closures and lay offs.
I feel sorry for the people with young children and mortgages. Glad I don't have that problem anymore.

 

[Road Runner]

Anyone been to there local high street lately?

50% of the regular shops are gone, woolies, shoe shop chains, and so on.

Charity shops are flourishingI am getting the begging bowl out

 

[dazzer]

Went to the bank a few weeks ago (Yorkshire Bank) to get a mortgage to buy my mums house off her as she will never be able to pay for it and the mortgage ends in 5 years.

The interest rate............................6.5% ABOVE base rate

Needless to say I wont be using the Yorkshire......I wouldnt mind so much but we have 4 mortgages with them already on our rental properties oh:

If the USA banks are doing the same kind of thing it would be cheaper going to a loan shark to buy your next RV

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[TJ-RV]

The days of putting an 8.1L engine in a five ton 24ft RV are over

Quite possible Jim. OTOH what we've seen the last 5 years or so has been almost two extremes, catering to a spectrum of buyers:

- Ever-increasing size and weight in many varieties of coach; 40-45 feet models abounded.

- Quite a few smaller/lighter RVs coming on the market.

Smaller RVs with smaller engines are certainly not new here, of course. e.g. friends of ours had, until recently, a Vixen with a small Volvo engine. Great fuel consumption (35 miles per US gallon), but slow getting up the hills.

Interestingly, when fuel prices skyrocketed last year, it didn't appear to deter folks from buying the behemoths.

 

[TJ-RV]

BTW check out the height of the guy in that photo vs the height of his RV. I'm 5.10" and couldn't stand up in there. He's 6'3" or so. The roof of the Vixen hinges along its length and, when the roof was 'deployed', he could stand up on one side.

 

[Road Runner]

Looks horrible.

Wont be importing one of them:shout:

 

[pappajohn]

BTW check out the height of the guy in that photo vs the height of his RV. I'm 5.10" and couldn't stand up in there. He's 6'3" or so. The roof of the Vixen hinges along its length and, when the roof was 'deployed', he could stand up on one side.

no 'low bridge' problems though....

 

[G2EWS]

Hi Tom,

Am I not correct in remembering that during the last fuel price crisis in the 70's you in the States started to look at the more economical Japanese imports. I remember in the UK seeing 1 year old Jaguars and Jensen Interceptors being crushed because the metal was worth more than the car!

Regards

Chris

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