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11-21-2008, 09:45 AM
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sonoma County, California
Posts: 795
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"Coachmen to Sell RV Unit to Berkshire's Forest River
By Alex Lange
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Coachmen Industries Inc., the maker of Viking travel trailers and manufactured houses, agreed to sell most of its recreational-vehicle business to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for undisclosed terms.
The sale to Berkshire's Forest River Inc. is subject to shareholder approval, which Coachmen plans to seek in December, according to a statement today.
The move comes as elevated fuel prices and tighter credit erode RV sales, depressing Middlebury, Indiana-based Coachmen's shares and prompting cost cutting. The company said Forest River agreed to offer jobs to almost 85 percent of the unit's employees in Indiana, and that some will be transferred to Coachmen's continuing operations.
The announcement will ``end the speculation over whether Coachmen itself will survive these extraordinarily difficult times,'' Chief Executive Officer Richard Lavers said in the statement.
The sale includes brands, product lines, the central manufacturing operations in Middlebury and a dealership in Elkhart, Indiana, Coachmen said. The transaction doesn't include a bus line that Coachmen introduced this year.
Forest River manufactures leisure and towable vehicles."
Let's hope that Winnebago has no problems in weathering out this financial storm...
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11-21-2008, 09:45 AM
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sonoma County, California
Posts: 795
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"Coachmen to Sell RV Unit to Berkshire's Forest River
By Alex Lange
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Coachmen Industries Inc., the maker of Viking travel trailers and manufactured houses, agreed to sell most of its recreational-vehicle business to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for undisclosed terms.
The sale to Berkshire's Forest River Inc. is subject to shareholder approval, which Coachmen plans to seek in December, according to a statement today.
The move comes as elevated fuel prices and tighter credit erode RV sales, depressing Middlebury, Indiana-based Coachmen's shares and prompting cost cutting. The company said Forest River agreed to offer jobs to almost 85 percent of the unit's employees in Indiana, and that some will be transferred to Coachmen's continuing operations.
The announcement will ``end the speculation over whether Coachmen itself will survive these extraordinarily difficult times,'' Chief Executive Officer Richard Lavers said in the statement.
The sale includes brands, product lines, the central manufacturing operations in Middlebury and a dealership in Elkhart, Indiana, Coachmen said. The transaction doesn't include a bus line that Coachmen introduced this year.
Forest River manufactures leisure and towable vehicles."
Let's hope that Winnebago has no problems in weathering out this financial storm...
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11-21-2008, 03:11 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 627
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Luckily for Coachman, they had the brand and the assets to be acquired by a stronger player. However, any way you slice it, there are going to be fewer brands when this recession is over.
As for Winnebago Industries, they're a smart company that knows that every time a company fails, they have one less competitor. The RV industry has always been highly competitive. With the current economy, failures and consolidations are going to be a common event.
Jack
__________________
2004 Winnebago Brave 34D with the usual add-ons
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11-21-2008, 05:58 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 985
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Richard 34A:
Let's hope that Winnebago has no problems in weathering out this financial storm... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I agree. Winn make a great product and their customer service is second to none. Some other company's could learn from them. IMO Safe Travels
__________________
2004 adventurer/22.5 workhorse....
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12-01-2008, 08:02 PM
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#5
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Newhall, CA
Posts: 58
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Winnebago is sure spreading out their work. We ordered a Suncruiser on 10/15 and it isn't due to come off the line until 2/2.
__________________
2009 Itasca Suncruiser
2005 GC Toad
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12-02-2008, 02:17 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 217
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I hear you. I order took one on their lot, and wanted an oven put in it, and a different couch. Took them 3 weeks. To make the 2 changes. I guess they do not make that particular couch we ordered. It was a down grade. I had thought they did all their furniture.
__________________
2008 Winnebago Vectra 40TD
1999-2008 traded in Suncruiser 90,000 miles
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