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08-09-2021, 04:51 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Brand: Still Looking
State: Texas
Posts: 6,187
THOR #2121
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June RV Sales Decline
There have been discussions of a possible sales correction following Covid peaks, and this may be a sign that it’s starting. Or do you think it’s a temporary pause, or slow down?
Title puts nice positive spin on what looks negative to me.
https://rvbusiness.com/ssi-63246-ret...est-june-ever/
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08-09-2021, 06:09 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2018 24.1 AXISSIXxSIX
State: Arizona
Posts: 6,762
THOR #13932
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Imagine how much money Thor might have borrowed against their Polly Anna backlog prediction.
Or not.
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08-09-2021, 07:02 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: North Carolina
Posts: 499
THOR #19102
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I think things are finally starting to correct. I mean people can be expected to pay msrp only for so long before they get wise to the situation. I just feel bad for the ones that did.
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08-09-2021, 07:07 PM
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#4
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Site Team
Brand: Entegra
Model: Accolade 37TS
State: South Dakota
Posts: 8,726
THOR #1469
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ducksface
Imagine how much money Thor might have borrowed against their Polly Anna backlog prediction.
Or not.
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Thor’s backlog is on actual orders and not based on predictions. Thor may have borrowed but it should not be a lose. The losers will be the dealers with all the unsold inventory.
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08-09-2021, 07:14 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2018 24.1 AXISSIXxSIX
State: Arizona
Posts: 6,762
THOR #13932
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EA37TS
Thor’s backlog is on actual orders and not based on predictions. Thor may have borrowed but it should not be a lose. The losers will be the dealers with all the unsold inventory.
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I'll buy that.
We once had a new car on the lot that had a third birthday.
The flooring on it was 18% annually.
Anyone know flooring rates on rv's these days?
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08-09-2021, 07:42 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 31S
State: Texas
Posts: 4,157
THOR #6411
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ducksface
I'll buy that.
We once had a new car on the lot that had a third birthday.
The flooring on it was 18% annually.
Anyone know flooring rates on rv's these days?
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It use to be that no trailer left the Airstream delivery lot unless if was fully payed for. When Thor Industries was formed, it adopted the old Airstream policy no finance policy from Beatrice Foods. As of 2018, the last time I visited Thor MC and Entegra, that was still the case. Dealers do their own predelivery financing and Thor MC, as well as other divisions do help in finding dealer financing for new dealers. Thor Industries policy is still not to force unordered RV on their dealers. If the plant runs low on orders the work hours and overtime are shortened. Plant 750 simply went to a four day work week and 8 hour shifts in 2016 when sales dropped. Now plant 750 is on 10 hour staggered shifts with Saturday as part of the work week.
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Jim & Roy Davis
2016 Hurricane 31S
1961 Rampside in tow
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08-09-2021, 07:47 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24F
State: Ohio
Posts: 4,089
THOR #16721
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beau388
It use to be that no trailer left the Airstream delivery lot unless if was fully payed for. When Thor Industries was formed, it adopted the old Airstream policy no finance policy from Beatrice Foods. As of 2018, the last time I visited Thor MC and Entegra, that was still the case. Dealers do their own predelivery financing and Thor MC, as well as other divisions do help in finding dealer financing for new dealers. Thor Industries policy is still not to force unordered RV on their dealers. If the plant runs low on orders the work hours and overtime are shortened. Plant 750 simply went to a four day work week and 8 hour shifts in 2016 when sales dropped. Now plant 750 is on 10 hour staggered shifts with Saturday as part of the work week.
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A more productive system would be to shift production to another item in demand, and keep your workers fully employed. That's why we have "shortages"... poor planning.
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08-09-2021, 08:21 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Brand: Still Looking
State: Texas
Posts: 6,187
THOR #2121
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The one area where Thor seems to have improved greatly compared to competitors is in Class B sales volume, which happens to be the only segment that increased in June.
A few years back Thor had very little Class B market share, limited mostly to Airstream van campers, which were incredibly expensive, large, and not really set up for camping.
In recent years Thor have introduced many Class B models, and many are built on ProMaster chassis which keeps price lower. Thor is now in second place with 30% market share, and moving closer to Winnebago’s first place.
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08-09-2021, 09:45 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 31S
State: Texas
Posts: 4,157
THOR #6411
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad
A more productive system would be to shift production to another item in demand, and keep your workers fully employed. That's why we have "shortages"... poor planning.
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Each of Thor Industries factories produces only one product line except for custom products like Thor MC 850. Plant 750 does batch production, but they produce 10 ACEs and 4 Freedom Travelers for each Windsport/Hurricane. They do not have the equipment, parts, manpower, space or the knowledge to produce another type of coach. Same for the Entegra Luxury Diesel Coach factory, while technically part of Jayco. they use Spartan chassis which are not uses on any other of Jayco's products.
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Jim & Roy Davis
2016 Hurricane 31S
1961 Rampside in tow
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08-09-2021, 10:43 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Brand: Still Looking
State: Texas
Posts: 6,187
THOR #2121
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad
A more productive system would be to shift production to another item in demand, and keep your workers fully employed. That's why we have "shortages"... poor planning.
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Employees could be retrained and moved around in some cases, but if peaks and valleys in RV demand occur across most brands and models at same time, then it wouldn’t make much difference anyway. I expect that when the economy slows down, or there is a Covid pandemic, etc., it affects most plants similarly, whether up or down. Obviously, one would expect some variations. Just my 2 cents.
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08-09-2021, 11:02 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24F
State: Ohio
Posts: 4,089
THOR #16721
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chance
Employees could be retrained and moved around in some cases, but if peaks and valleys in RV demand occur across most brands and models at same time, then it wouldn’t make much difference anyway. I expect that when the economy slows down, or there is a Covid pandemic, etc., it affects most plants similarly, whether up or down. Obviously, one would expect some variations. Just my 2 cents.
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If Thor has bodies standing around, invest in them... start buying equipment and train those employees to make the components others can't seem to produce... water heaters, air conditioners, etc. Be an innovator!!
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08-10-2021, 12:15 AM
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#12
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Site Team
Brand: Entegra
Model: Accolade 37TS
State: South Dakota
Posts: 8,726
THOR #1469
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad
If Thor has bodies standing around, invest in them... start buying equipment and train those employees to make the components others can't seem to produce... water heaters, air conditioners, etc. Be an innovator!!
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And what makes you an expert on what Thor should or should not do? How long have you worked for them or been any type of consultant to the RV industry.
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Dave
US Army (Ret)
2020 Entegra Accolade 37TS
2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk (Toad)
FMCA - F432054
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08-10-2021, 12:45 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24F
State: Ohio
Posts: 4,089
THOR #16721
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EA37TS
And what makes you an expert on what Thor should or should not do? How long have you worked for them or been any type of consultant to the RV industry.
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Maybe that's the problem... too many tunnel vision "experts" have lost their creative/critical thinking skills. It certainly doesn't take an expert to use basic logic to solve simple problems. But it does take courage and innovation.
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08-10-2021, 06:43 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Tuscany
State: Texas
Posts: 480
THOR #1808
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wait i have a can of gas
just kidding
we bought our tuscany in apr of 09, it was built late 07
economy fell apart and thor bought damon and damon made a killing
all the damon inventory was to be sold well below msrp to purge the inventory
we practically stole it from our dealer and they even gave us money afterward as a thank you 4500.00 dealer rebate something
our unit sat inside the showroom for over a year , with one trip to a local rv show (DALLAS)
i desire a new motorhome, i am betting this time next year it will be a buyers market again
there are starting to be more and more 1 to 2 year old units popping up again, very lightly used on the lots around here.
this time i think a smaller unit or even a towable, we just dont travel as much as we once did.
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retired Navy driving the short bus 2008 Tuscany 4056
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08-10-2021, 08:04 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: A.C.E. 27.2
State: Indiana
Posts: 1,842
THOR #14698
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad
If Thor has bodies standing around, invest in them... start buying equipment and train those employees to make the components others can't seem to produce... water heaters, air conditioners, etc. Be an innovator!!
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In theory it is a nice thought. In the real world it ain't gonna happen. The costs associated to retool a factory to go from manufacturing RV's to producing water heaters or air conditioners or anything other than another variation of what they already produce prohibit such a move even if the workforce was willing to doing it.
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2018 ACE 27.2
Toad 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
Roadmaster Falcon All Terrain Towbar
Roadmaster Invisibrake
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09-13-2021, 04:26 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Brand: Still Looking
State: Texas
Posts: 6,187
THOR #2121
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Recent trend seems to be continuing, with July registrations down considerably for As and Cs. Class Bs were essentially flat compared to July 2020.
Thor market share is holding up well, and Class B market share seems excellent considering how low it was a few years ago.
What amazes me most is that Class B registrations were so close to Class As for July 2021.
https://rvbusiness.com/ssi-july-2021...53985-down-25/
Class A down 38%
Class C down 36%
Class B up 1%
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09-13-2021, 04:58 PM
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#17
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I Think We're Lost!
Brand: Still Looking
Model: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
State: New York
Posts: 22,195
THOR #8860
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Folks are realizing that RVs are not a true solution...
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"What: me worry?"
Good Sam Member 843599689
Current coach: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
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09-13-2021, 05:26 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24F
State: Ohio
Posts: 4,089
THOR #16721
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I have a feeling a few poster have never had to make a choice between groceries for the family or paying rent...
Put yourself in the shoes of those (likely below living wage) workers building those coaches you now enjoy. You get a pink slip because your employer chooses to temporarily stop producing a particular "widget". There's a million excuses why they choose to do that, all as absurd as the next.
I once worked for a private company as skilled labor. If you weren't busy, there was ALWAYS a floor to sweep or a dirty toilet needing cleaning. There were shelves to organize... walls to paint. Hell, some guys even replaced windows! That company is STILL in business today - going on 60 years. So PLEASE don't tell me how Thor (or any company) isn't managed well enough to do this... the ONLY excuse is lack of courage and laziness. There... that certainly didn't take a PhD to figure out!
Tunnel vision often comes from "government sponsored" contract based employment where the teat is always full. The majority of America's workforce doesn't have that luxury, but wind up footing the bill for those who do. Many of these contract employees seem to forget who is paying for their livelihood. There should be a day to thank those workers for footing the bill... oh that's right - there already IS one!!
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09-13-2021, 06:12 PM
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#19
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I Think We're Lost!
Brand: Still Looking
Model: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
State: New York
Posts: 22,195
THOR #8860
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So after readking your post three time: I'm still confused...
Are you for... or against: unskilled labor doing a lousy job of putting things together?
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"What: me worry?"
Good Sam Member 843599689
Current coach: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
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09-13-2021, 06:19 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24F
State: Ohio
Posts: 4,089
THOR #16721
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Denman
So after readking your post three time: I'm still confused...
Are you for... or against: unskilled labor doing a lousy job of putting things together?
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Yes.
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