dons2346
Sioux Falls, SD, formerly of So. CA
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Monaco to close Indiana plants
* This post was
edited 07/19/08 04:48am by an administrator/moderator *
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ole trucker
Westminster,MD. USA
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Joined: 05/26/2003
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Well, the tip of the iceberg I believe, but how lucky do you feel, it might be a good time to buy thier stock, doubt they go broke.
Will and Ina's Endeavor
LIVALIL
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Edouard
Hudson, Quebec, Canada
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IMHO. It appears that it's the former employee's of the Holiday Rambler arm of the production facilities that got the axe.
It's sad that Harley Davidson owner's decided to sell the Holiday Rambler business years ago, perhaps the situation for employee's and city of Wakarusa would be different today.
Eugene & Stella Theriault,
1999 Endeavour 34CG/V-10 (No Slides)
2005 Honda Element. Blue Ox Aladin.
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chastho
arkansas
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Could someone explain the statement "Monaco was the rv maker that was the most at risk because of Lazy days lay offs"? I don't get the connection, if their motorhomes are not selling then they are not selling. I'm just an ole country boy and dumb as dirt but I have never been able to understand why Monaco made so many motorhomes just alike with different names. I don't think you have to be very smart to undestand that cost more. If they are going to survive they have to concentrate on the best selling models and scrap the rest. By doing that they could concentrate on making improvments and lowering the price.
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Fishinghat
Western Washington, USA
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Chastho, Monaco is just doing what companies like GM did by producing so many similar brands, primarily to give the impression of compitition. Like GM did when it closed Olsmobile, Monaco is probably going to have to eliminate some slow moving models, and possibly whole brand names like Safari or Holiday Rambler. JMHO
Holiday Rambler Navigator DP, Mustang Convertible, and Honda VT1100C Shadow.
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John S.
Northern Virginia
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chastho wrote:Could someone explain the statement "Monaco was the rv maker that was the most at risk because of Lazy days lay offs"? I don't get the connection, if their motorhomes are not selling then they are not selling. I'm just an ole country boy and dumb as dirt but I have never been able to understand why Monaco made so many motorhomes just alike with different names. I don't think you have to be very smart to undestand that cost more. If they are going to survive they have to concentrate on the best selling models and scrap the rest. By doing that they could concentrate on making improvments and lowering the price.
I once posted that monoco was one hurricane away from disaster. THey sell 25 percent of their units through Lazy Days but only get 9 percent of their revenue meaning they cut them a sweet deal. Now that Lazy Days is selling less and had to cut staffing they are hurt pretty badly since they sold a lot of monoco products.
I do not think I would buy the stock it is like catching a falling knife. There are a bunch of regional banks to fail still or have issues and they will cut credit to mom and pops who would use it to refinance a home to buy a motorhome or trailer. It will be a problem for another 12 to 18 months and it will be a chore to survive it. I expect others will fail but the question is who. I have some ideas but I am not going to name them and start a brand war. I know I posted before on National and people did not like it but it is getting really really tough out there for all manufacturers.
John
2001 42' Foretravel U320
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Tenn Stud
Northeast, TN
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I don't think you will see an upturn in Motor Homes anywhere in the near future. Several reasons like a lot of Banks don't know if they are going to survive. There are 125 Banks on the FDIC watch list. Companies like Monaco don't have the cash to finance their product. Their stock will be many year returning to the pre oil market disaster. Cost of operating a large diesel MH is too expensive for most. Fuel cost of just turning the wheels is pushing .70 cents per mile. Cost of manufacturing is not going to go down, Everything built in OR has to travel east. To get to their largest dealers. I will agree with Ole Trucker we are at the tip of a very deep recession
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JALLEN4
OHIO
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chastho wrote:Could someone explain the statement "Monaco was the rv maker that was the most at risk because of Lazy days lay offs"? I don't get the connection, if their motorhomes are not selling then they are not selling. I'm just an ole country boy and dumb as dirt but I have never been able to understand why Monaco made so many motorhomes just alike with different names. I don't think you have to be very smart to undestand that cost more. If they are going to survive they have to concentrate on the best selling models and scrap the rest. By doing that they could concentrate on making improvments and lowering the price.
In the past, Monaco built the same units with different brand names to expand their representation. Giving the Monaco franchise to a dealer in a particular market often left them vulnerable to the marketing prowess of that one dealer. With the Holiday Rambler franchise available, for example, they could have two dealers in the same market essentially selling the same unit at nearly the same price point. While the GM theory of brands was to stair step the consumer through increasingly expensive vehicles, Monaco's is geared more towards flexibility of representation.
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Lug_Nut
Newmarket , Ontario, Canada
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Edouard wrote:IMHO. It appears that it's the former employee's of the Holiday Rambler arm of the production facilities that got the axe.
It's sad that Harley Davidson owner's decided to sell the Holiday Rambler business years ago, perhaps the situation for employee's and city of Wakarusa would be different today.
I guess you have not read Harley's financials lately. It would appear their market is tanking too.
'07 Newmar Essex 45' ISM 500 4 slides
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webhannet
Southern Coastal Maine
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Monaco has taken "the bitter pill", but the REAL QUESTION is "Big enough, Soon enough?"
Whatever business - continuing losses can't continue very long. Monaco's bold move to trim the size of the company is probably what the Big Three would LOVE to do right now. At least, Monaco CAN bail-out for a reasonable charge v. the expenses to be saved - the automakers aren't so nimble.
It's possible that future sales will be able to support the new, smaller Monaco business model. What I expect ALL the motorhome manufacturers regret is the enormous amounts they've spent in trying to out-class their competition over the last five years. All the new styling, glamour, and models haven't really changed the companies' positions against each other - and they could really use some of that "spent expense" back in their balance sheets today. A cautionary tale for us all!
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