New President Appointed at Newmar

[Lug_Nut]

Matthew Miller, son of the original owner was appointed president replacing Dick Parks who is moving to chairman. Parks was an ex Fleetwood exc. Maybe that's why the Dutchstar pusher took a Fleetwood look in my opinion. So now with a Miller back in there I hope to see their traditional great Newmar styles.

[Lug_Nut]

Matthew Miller, son of the original owner was appointed president replacing Dick Parks who is moving to chairman. Parks was an ex Fleetwood exc. Maybe that's why the Dutchstar pusher took a Fleetwood look in my opinion. So now with a Miller back in there I hope to see their traditional great Newmar styles.

["007"]

Sounds like somethings may get back to normal just needs to get full control. "007"

[RobAndTeresa]

Hopefully everything that Newmar did to build the rep they have will continue on and Newmar will not go "the way" of Fleetwood. I think a number of people had that concern when Parks was put in there.

Take care.

[tinkercb]

Did you notice that the warranty went to one year about the same time. Looks like newmar might end up going the way of fleetwood. The leading expert on quality control one stated that the biggest obstacle to quality in the United States is Management. Quality and Maintenance are both non income producing expences and management tends to try to reduce both in most factories. Think about it.

[TruckMechanic]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by tinkercb:
The leading expert on quality control one stated that the biggest obstacle to quality in the United States is Management. Quality and Maintenance are both non income producing expences and management tends to try to reduce both in most factories. Think about it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No need to think about it. You hit it right on the head!

The first place everyone goes is to maintenence and perks. Most people in "upper management" get bonuses based on the bottom line. They tend to suck the company down by taking away things that people have grown to accept and toute it as a way to save a buck. The truth is often the opposite.

If a manager goes onto another company he will toute his cost cutting efforts and say "If they let me stay, I could have saved them more" when what really happens is customers get turned off and buy the product or service from somewhere else.

Belt tightening is one thing. When management does stuff that goes beond belt tightening and in some cases is dangerious "rank and file" cop an attitude and then "quality is job one" goes out the door. Often times the only way to straighten out your ship is to lop off 1-5 upper management employees (or resuffle the deck)to try to get the rank and file back into your camp.

A good company will have several people from the "floor" in a decisions making role. This makes it a lot easier to "sell" the new ideas to the "rank & file" and also allows management a ground floor feel when it's time to implement the changes. I know I would rather hear from a "fellow worker" then a "suit" when changes are coming. Win, win for all parties involved!

BTW: This is a "general discussion" and in no way reflects what is happening at any one company. This is a problem with a lot of companies.

[Cruzer]

This sounds like good news indeed. I kind of wish that Dick Parks would have moved sideways instead of up the ladder though.

[Doc Mark]

I agree - we made our views known to all at the Newmar areas at the Tampa Super Show - No three year warrantee - no new Newmar.

[Jimmy Jam]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Doc Mark:
I agree - we made our views known to all at the Newmar areas at the Tampa Super Show - No three year warrantee - no new Newmar. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am curious...What was the Newmar response to that? Anything at all???

[Doc Mark]

Actually - the sound of silence was deafening. Then a bit of backing & filling with "ah, maybe they'll go back someday". Not real encouraging.

[edgray]

As a satisfied Newmar owner whose three year warranty expires next month, I'd like to comment on the warranty issue. I have never met any owner who is happy about the decreased warranty. We've all heard the company line about the warranty cost (which WAS included in the price you paid for the product) putting Newmar at a competitive disadvantage in the market place because the competetion did not follow Newmar'S lead and increase the warranty on their products. You can choose to accept the company explanation, or not, it's your choice. What is a fact is that IF you insist on getting a three year MANUFACTURE'S warranty on your next coach, your choices are going to be extreamly limited. There are only a very few coaches offerring anything more than a 1 year warranty.

Rest assurred that Newmar DEALERS are also voicing concern to Newmar's management about the level of "unrest" among the tradionally extreamely loyal buyers of Newmar coaches. Many owners are currently driving #2 or #3+ unit, and most have moved up the quality scale with each sucessive purchase. As an example, my wife and I are considering ordering an 07 MACA to replace the one shown below in my Signature.

One of the "remedies" I have heard that IS being discussed at Newmar is for them to offer some version of an extended MANUFACTURE'S warranty which would be as an extra cost option. Duration, coverage, and cost are all subject to debate at present. The thought behind this approach seems to be that buyers who really want the peace of mind that comes with a Newmar warranty, will have it available for purchase, but the base product price for the competitive marketplace, won't have it built in. There is also some discussion about using a deductable amount to discourage owners from running to the dealers (who charges Newmar their posted shop rates) every time some little minor thing needs "fixing", that they could have handled themselves, but didn't because of the "hey, it's under warranty, why should I do it" mentality. There is also the possibility this optional warranty will only cover the Newmar built portions of the coach (to hold down the cost) and have the owner (or dealer service tech) deal directly with the maker for warranty on chassis and other installed components like appliances, rather than running these issues thru Newmar. Even if Newmar were to subrogate those claim expenses back to the supplier, they still incure the administrative cost which found it's way into the product's price.

One thing is certain, prices will continue to rise. A small consolation is that, generally speaking, each model year has improvements that were either not available previously or were extra cost options that have become standard. In my case, even if we get the same model and floor plan as we have now, it will come on a vastly improved chassis, have higher ceilings and a longer bed, and better access to the basement storage areas. One reason we are waiting on 2007 models to make the decission is that I've heard the MACA will be on the new WCC 25.5 chassis, and that is a good thing indeed!

Like many of you, I'll continue to follow this warranty issue closely! ED

[Lug_Nut]

The '07 Essex and Mountain Aire will, I believe, come with a 2 year warranty. I don't really have an issue with the shorter warranties. After all, the major expensive items such as engine and transmission are covered separately. There were far too many people that complained and picked at everything with the 3 year bumper to bumper. I'm going to see the '07's later this month and will buy a new one if they didn't screw up the outside design.

[edgray]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The '07 Essex and Mountain Aire will, I believe, come with a 2 year warranty. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

HEY, Lug_Nut! How about the LADP?? for that kind of pricing, I think they should provide at LEAST a three year. ED

.

[Lug_Nut]

The LADP is to be about $950k list. I looked at the prototype but apparently many changes will be made to the production model. 3 year warranty would be nice but considering their production intitially will only be about 12 per year, their cost impact would probably be minimal.