INDUSTRY NEWS
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Boots Ingram and Ron Berg Purchase Marathon Homes Marathon Homes Corporation, a 24 year old manufacturer of RVs, has been acquired by
Robert "Boots" Ingram and Ron Berg. Ingram founded Teton Homes and is a current member of
the RVIA board of directors. Berg has been with Marathon since 1976, having served in all
functions of sales & marketing. Ingram will serve as chairman of the board, and act in an
advisory capacity on special projects, sales and marketing, and finance. Berg will serve as
secretary/treasurer of the corporation and general manager of the day-to-day operations. LaMar
Wallin, one of Marathon's founders, will continue as president of the corporation, and in an
advisory capacity for development of new products and production.
Fleetwood Founder Recovering After Heart Surgery John Crean, founder and CEO of Fleetwood Enterprises, recently underwent quadruple bypass surgery but is out of the hospital and recovering nicely, according to Virginia Smith, Crean's executive secretary at Fleetwood. Smith told RV News Crean entered the hospital for a scheduled angioplasty treatment; however, during the operation his physicians made the decision that a more extensive repair was needed and proceeded with the heart surgery. Smith said, "He's doing fine. He is home and has called the office several times, and even
attended a dinner honoring one of our long-time employees."
Trailer Life's Parent Company Cuts 50 Jobs Affinity Group, parent company of TL Enterprises, Camp Coast to Coast, Good Sam Club and other companies, has had a reduction in force and cut about 50 jobs at the company, according to Michael Schneider, chief operating officer. Schneider told RV News, "The cuts were in areas where it will not affect our services such as to the subscribers of our RV publications and the members of the Good Sam Club." Schneider cited a separate R&D department charged with developing new programs and services for Affinity's several companies as the kinds of positions that were eliminated. He said, "We have brought those functions into each of the companies that will now develop their own programs." He added, "The action was necessary in order to achieve the bottom-line growth that's
expected of a company our size."
StagParkway Ready for Reno Round-up Stagparkway is encouraged by support from dealers as the company looks forward to its 1997 RV aftermarket trade show which will be held later this month in Reno, NV (January 15-16). Mike McKay, vice president sales and marketing, told RV News, "More than 500 RV retailers
have registered for the show and we are completely sold out of supplier exhibit space. The scene
is set for an excellent event and we are optimistic about the show's success."
KOA's Zimmerman Featured Speaker at Brazil Event
Zimmerman said, "The convention provided an opportunity for club members, campground owners, suppliers and media to explore and exchange information on the growing international camping market. The numerous comments and questions demonstrated their interest in improving this growing market." Zimmerman was joined on the panel by Jochen Hoecker, director of the German firm, Reisernobil; Andres Prez Moreno, editor of the Argentinian publication Weekend; Luiz Elbio Ferrari of Camping Ballenas, based in Uruguay; and Homero Sodre, a campground owner from Brazil. In addition to presentations and workshops, convention attendees were given a hosted tour of
the convention campground and a number of facilities in Rio de Janeiro and the surrounding
area. The tour prompted comparisons with the photographs and video of KOA facilities the
group had seen during Zimmerman's presentation, and, according to Zimmerman, led to a
healthy exchange of ideas among the assembled group.
Recreation Vehicle Products Consolidates Services Recreation Vehicle Products is immediately consolidating all service functions for its Coleman-Faulkner RV Awnings and Coleman RV Air Conditioners into one location in Wichita, KS. Previously, customers called Wichita for service for Coleman RV Air Conditioners and Malden, MA, for Coleman Faulkner RV Awning service. Mel Adams, president of Recreation Vehicle Products, said, "A higher level of quality
customer service to our dealers and customers will be the direct result of this consolidation. By
combining our service operation in one area, customers will only have one number to call for
service on any RVP product. The single-source service number is 1-800-227-5693."
Fleetwood's NASCAR Sponsorship Paying Off Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc., sponsors NASCAR Top 10 driver Rusty Wallace, and when he was recently pictured racing his Ford Thunderbird across the front page of USA Today (Dec. 17) it represented a marketing dream-come-true, according to Fleetwood advertising manager David McKnight. "Endorsement doesn't get any better than that," McKnight said. "Here is a sport celebrity people admire, using a product (American Eagle motorhome) that reflects a particular lifestyle -- and he's around to talk about it. The drivers take time out to talk with their fans, which is a rarity in other sports. That adds a lot to the value of their endorsement." Does the sponsorship pay off? In Fleetwood customer surveys, 7 percent of respondents said the company's sponsorship of Rusty Wallace influenced their buying decision. That translates into approximately $37 million in sales. "No other sporting event has the combined drawing power, media exposure and demographic statistics of NASCAR," McKnight said. "And RVs are at the center of the motorsport lifestyle, so we are right on target." Fleetwood created Fleetwood Racing to manage its motorsport marketing and, in particular, sponsorship of Wallace. The company is also looking at opportunities to expand its presence on the NASCAR circuit. Recently, Fleetwood discussed ideas with Riverside neighbor and racing giant Penske Motorsports, regarding Penske's new California Speedway, which will host the Winston Cup in Fontana, CA, on June 22. Fleetwood rolls out its Rusty Wallace marketing and public relations campaign in January, before the 1997 Winston Cup series starts Feb. 16 at Daytona International Speedway. "NASCAR fans are sophisticated consumers who are buying a lot of products -- and there are
more fans now than ever before," McKnight said.
House on Wheels Launches Web Site House on Wheels RV Rentals with headquarters in Miami, recently launched its Internet web site which is hosted by RV America On Line®. The site includes information about renting RVs, a reservation form, as well as pages relating to reservations and pricing programs. The House on Wheels web site Internet address is:
http://www.rvamerica.com/house-on-wheels/. House on Wheels can be contacted via e-mail at
rentals@rvamerica.com.
Coast Opens New California Distribution Center Coast Distribution has opened a new warehouse location for the California market place which will allow several improvements in the level of service their dealers can expect, according to Jeff Wannamaker, executive vice president of operations for Coast. Located in the town of Visalia, the new 70,000-square-foot distribution center was the result of changes in the "Next Day" ground service shipping areas offered by UPS. Now, UPS can deliver virtually all areas of California, next day, via regular ground shipments. In the past, this type of service required two shipping locations to cover the state. Service from common carrier shippers is also next day throughout the state for shipments from the new Visalia location, Wannamaker said, "This change should offer our customers several important advantages. Combining the Corona and San Jose locations provides us with very substantial volume in the new location. The higher volume will allow us to increase inventory levels and to re-order on a much more frequent and efficient basis. The effect of both these factors will be very evident to our customers in a much higher fill rate on a broader range of products than we were able to achieve from either location in the past. In addition, with the UPS hub close by, we will be able to take orders until later in the day and still ship them for next day delivery." Operating one warehouse facility rather than two will also offer substantial savings to Coast. "We have an obligation to our customers to keep our costs as low as possible," Wannamaker added. "Reducing our costs, while maintaining or, as in this case, improving our level of service, will ensure that our dealers can continue to compete profitably in the market place." Coast's Visalia distribution center is expected to be open for business in late February.
Dealer orders should still be directed to Coast's customer service center.
U.S. Patent Office Recognizes Magnum Air Suspension Patents in the RV industry are rare, but Magnum Manufacturing achieved a major milestone when the U.S. Patent office acknowledged the Magnum Air® suspension as a significant advance in the state of the art. The mathematically optimized suspension was awarded patent #5,566,971, and is believed to be the first suspension patent held by an RV chassis manufacturer. Merely designing a new suspension is not enough to earn a patent. The design has to be evaluated by patent examiners who verify that it represents a significant advancement over existing designs. Considering that there are a multitude of companies designing and using air suspensions, creating a patentable suspension is an accomplishment. According to project leader and Magnum general manager Gordon Perlot, the key is the mathematical formulas Magnum engineers used to place the air bags in this outboard system. "We developed a method for placing each air bag in the best place possible. The benefits of an outboard air system are straightforward - it's more stable and, if designed properly, smoother riding. But the question is where to place the bags. That has always been a matter of guesswork - until now." The Magnum engineers, led by Rob Rissberger, analyzed the problem well before the first
piece of steel was cut for the test chassis. The result was a set of formulas which can be used for
almost any type of suspension or vehicle to optimize the spring placement. According to
Rissberger, "This suspension really is special. It's not just super-stable, but it really handles the
rough bumps."
American Cruiser Establishes Internet Presence High-end Class B motorhome manufacturer, America Cruiser, headquartered in Goshen, IN, recently launched its Internet web site which is hosted by RV America On Line®. The site includes detailed information about America Cruiser's wide range of vehicles as well as an on-line form where consumers can request information and locate their nearest dealer. The America Cruiser web site Internet address is: http://www.rvamerica.com/american/
Northern Wholesale Supply Moves Into New Facility Northern Wholesale Supply recently moved into their new 115,000 square foot warehouse facility located at 6800 Otter Lake Road in Lino Lakes, WI. The new warehouse is three times the size of their old St. Paul location and features a state-of-the-art order processing system, large in-house class room for dealer technical service training and Northern's own hydronic radiant floor heating system. RV and Manufactured Housing division manager John Perron says that this new facility not
only helps them serve the growing RV and manufactured housing dealer market, but also
accommodates the rapidly expanding snowmobile, marine and hydronic radiant floor industries.
Northern Wholesale Supply employs sixty people and began operations in 1984.
Fleetwood Stock Dives Following Announcement of Softening Demand Following last month's disclosure of a softening demand for both RVs and manufactured housing products, Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE--FLE) saw its stock price drop dramatically. By mid November Fleetwood's stock had climbed to a year-to-date high of 37.25 but by mid December the stock had dropped more than 10 points or over 30 percent. At press-time the stock was drifting in the 26 to 28 range. Lyle Larkin, a spokesman for Fleetwood, told RV News, "The nature of the stock market
today indicates that it has no tolerance for even the slightest news that is not positive. Even
though our second quarter was outstanding, we believed we needed to disclose the softening
trend and the market reacted to that news."
Rexhall Selects New Board Member Rexhall Industries, Inc., announced that Marco Martinez has been appointed to the board of directors. According to Bill Rex, president and chief executive officer, Martinez has been with the company since March 3, 1995, and has held the position of director of administration. Rex said, "His knowledge of the RV industry, along with strong management skills, will ensure top performance from employees and increased bottom lines." Martinez will assume the title and duties of vice president and general manager of the Elkhart, IN, manufacturing plant for Rexhall. "His main focus will be to improve profit margins. A high emphasis will be placed on product
quality, worker efficiency and expansion of the dealership network in this region of the United
States and Canada," Rex added.
North American Industry Classification System To Establish Park Trailers as a Sub-Classification The US Government is now involved in the process of updating the existing Standard Industrial Classification (a four digit SIC number) into a new six digit North American system of classification which will include all of the significant products produced in the US, Canada and Mexico. Under the existing SIC system, Park Trailers are not classified as a product or even recognized as an entity and are either counted as travel trailers or manufactured homes. While Park Trailers are a unique product, the total size of the specific industry is not large enough to warrant a separate classification as a manufactured product. However, Park Trailers are significant enough to be included as a sub-classification of an
existing product. This means that when the US does its Census of Manufacturing every five
years, Park Trailers will be recorded as a separate entity.
Winnebago Industries Reports First Quarter Results Revenues of $113.9 million were reported by Winnebago Industries Inc , for the first quarter of fiscal 1997 ended November 30, 1996 (13-weeks), compared to revenues of $113.7 million for the first quarter last year (14 weeks). Income from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 1997 were $2.7 million, or 11 cents per share, compared to $2.7 million, or 11 cents per share for the first quarter last year. Due to the recent sale of the company's Cycle-Sat, Inc. subsidiary, Winnebago Industries realized additional income of $16.5 million, or 65 cents per share, for a total net income of $19.2 million or 76 cents per share, in the first quarter. This compares to total net income of $3.0 million, or 12 cents per share, for the first quarter one year ago. According to Winnebago Industries president and chief executive officer Fred G. Dohrmann, "We were pleased with the results of our first quarter. Although sales were comparable between the first quarter of fiscal 1997 and last year's first quarter, we were able to achieve slightly better sales dollars and profit with one less week, or 7% less time." "We are also encouraged by the recent increase in product orders the company has on hand.
As of mid-December, our order backlog is running approximately 21 percent ahead of last year at
this time."
Tuscany Van Joins RV America on the Internet Tuscany Motor Coach, Inc., headquartered in Shipshewanna, IN, recently launched its Internet web site which is hosted by RV America On Line®. Tuscany is a major manufacturer of van conversions. The sites includes detailed information about Tuscany's wide range of vehicles as well as an overview of the van conversion process. The Tuscany web site Internet address is: http://www.rvamerica.com/tuscany/ .
Cruise America Reports Record Earnings for Second Quarter For the three months ended October 31, 1996, Cruise America's net earnings increased 18% to a second quarter record of $3,681,000 ($0.62 per share), versus net income of $3,129,000 ($0.55 per share) in the prior-year quarter. Net income for the six-month period ended October 31, 1996 rose 19% to $9,917,000 ($1.67 per share), compared with a net profit of $8,368,000 ($1.47 per share) in the corresponding period of the previous year. Vehicle rental revenues increased 19% during the most recent quarter (to $22.1 million vs.
$18.6 million) and 22% during the first half of FY1997 (to $46.3 million vs. $38.1 million). Sales
of new and used vehicles decreased to $11.5 million in the second quarter of FY1997 (vs. $15.0
million a year earlier), while vehicle sales for the six-month period declined to $18.3 million,
compared with $24.2 million in the prior-year period. Total revenues for the second quarter of
FY1997 approximated $33.6 million, compared with $33.7 million in last year's second quarter,
while total revenues for the six months ended October 31, 1996 increased to $64.6 million (vs.
$62.2 million in the corresponding period of the prior year).
Central Trailer Supply Having First Dealer Show Central Trailer Supply is having its first dealer show in 17 years. Max Waugh, vice president, said, "We believe we will have a lot to offer, and in addition to our product show we want the opportunity to show our appreciation for the business and loyalty dealers have given us over the last 50 years. We haven't made a big deal about it, but Central Trailer Supply has been on the same corner in Albuquerque for 50 years." According to Waugh, the show begins January 24th with a customer/vendor appreciation
reception and runs through January 25th. It will be held at the Manuel Lujan Building at the
New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque, NM. Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc., has announced its top suppliers for the 1996 model year. The winners are selected based on ratings they have received on Supplier Performance Evalua-tions, given by the individual travel trailer and motorhome plants during the model year. This year's winners are: JTJ Laminating, Inc.; Carriage In-dustries, Inc.; Maytag; West & Barker, Inc.; Todd Engineering; Robert Weed Plywood; Wolverine Fabricating; Falcon Mfg. of California, Inc.; Wiley Metal Fabricating, Inc.; and Manchester Tank In addition, a special Award of Merit exemplifying long term outstanding performance and dedication to customer satisfaction above and beyond the usual expected requirements is presented each year. This year's winner is: Sharpline Converting — Product: Vinyl Graphics. |
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KOA's senior vice president, Kent Zimmerman, was featured in a panel of experts on
international camping at the first-ever International Camping Convention, according to Art
Peterson, president and CEO of Kampgrounds of America. The event was hosted by the Camping
Clube do Brazil and held in Brazila, Brazil.