Community Forums

Jeff Regan · 05-23-2007, 11:03 AM

I am sorry to see that Newmar no longer occupies a spot in the top 10 motorized manufacturers. They have been slipping for a few years now, but Jayco has taken their number 10 position.

Tiffin has been showing very strong upward momentum with a 33% market share increase in 2006. They had surpassed Newmar a couple of years ago and are now number seven with a 5% share of the market.

Monaco has slipped by double digits which probably means the diesel market is very tight.

I believe that Newmar's dropping the 3/50 house
warranty has further weakened their market position, but I would be interested in hearing
from my fellow Newmar faithful regarding the direction of Newmar and it's product offerings.

Jeff Regan · 05-23-2007, 11:03 AM

I am sorry to see that Newmar no longer occupies a spot in the top 10 motorized manufacturers. They have been slipping for a few years now, but Jayco has taken their number 10 position.

Tiffin has been showing very strong upward momentum with a 33% market share increase in 2006. They had surpassed Newmar a couple of years ago and are now number seven with a 5% share of the market.

Monaco has slipped by double digits which probably means the diesel market is very tight.

I believe that Newmar's dropping the 3/50 house
warranty has further weakened their market position, but I would be interested in hearing
from my fellow Newmar faithful regarding the direction of Newmar and it's product offerings.

rebelsbeach · 05-23-2007, 11:24 AM

Good hearing from you Jeff...

Not being privy to the source of your information and certainly not one that has followed the true business aspect of the industry of late, I can only offer a "seat of the pants" analogy.

It appears to me at least that Newmar is "active" in the area of R and D and as such has scouted out a particular area of the market and is working with some fervor toward addressing that market. Case in point with the King Aire Bus, Newmar felt Travel Supreme was getting a share of the 600K/ 600 horse K3 market with it's Select Limited.
I heard from more than one individual that Newmar wanted to match bus for bus in the 3,4,5 and 600K market...They've done that well.
With the advent of the Grand Star they've ventured into the FRED market.

With all respect to a site sponsor, I don't see Newmar's decision NOT to UFO as that big of a deal, given the direction the "new" marketing team is taking and also taking into consideration the tendancy of Newmar to be cautious.

The Comfort Drive was a GREAT addition to the stable and the decision to add it to all the DP's was obvious....They've gotten the best use out of an affiliation agreement and you can't blame them there.

I've heard rumblings of Newmar's plans to add manufacturing space in Nappanee and I think it's a great idea...
Having said that, and even being the owner of one, I have to question the inception of the LADB.
I love mine, but did Mahlon really need to go that route?

Winnebago learned a long time ago with their UA blunder that they needed to service a "particular" bread and butter market.

Maybe Newmar's trying to see which side their bread's buttered on?

Nice to see you around and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.

Jeff Regan · 05-23-2007, 11:46 AM

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the interesting input. I believe the
Essex/King Aire/London Aire upmarket offerings are very important to Newmar going forward. The profit margins on Essex contributed in large part to Newmar's bottom line from 2003 to now.

Travel Supreme had to go upmarket because they don't have the production capacity to do "bread
and butter" coaches. Newmar can service both
ends of the market, but found sales of their towables to be in big trouble as well as their
gas motorized. Even the Dutch Star slipped from
its top three pusher berth, which was truly Newmar's bread and butter in the late '90's and
early '00's.

Newmar has been trying, with some success, to offer some technological differentiators to help
them stand out in a crowded market. But they've
had some mis-steps and duds along the way as well.

Newmar has struggled with keeping their faithful
base happy while trying to compete for the new
RVer's attention. This is a difficult thing to
do, IMO. I expect the next few years to be very
important to Newmar's longterm success.

KenSherwin · 05-23-2007, 12:23 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I am sorry to see that Newmar no longer occupies a spot in the top 10 motorized manufacturers. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I, among others, no doubt, would really like to learn where you got your data. I'm not questioning it, but I'm interested in what else it might tell me.

Jeff Regan · 05-23-2007, 12:41 PM

Statistical Surveys, Inc. via RV Business.

rebelsbeach · 05-23-2007, 12:57 PM

From RV Business...

Motorized: The top 10 motorhome OEMs for 2006 was comprised of essentially the same players as the previous year, led by Winnebago Industries Inc. with a 19% share of the market. The only shift was Jayco Inc. replacing Newmar Corp. for the No. 10 ranking. But three manufacturers showed significant market share gains. High-end Class A builder Tiffin Motor Homes Inc. registered a 32.9% market share increase to capture 5.1% of the overall market and swap spots with National RV Inc. to assume the No. 7 position. Forest River Inc. moved from No. 7 to No. 6 while posting a 22.6% gain in market share and Thor Industries Inc. moved from No. 4 to the No. 3 slot with a 12.5% increase. Monaco Coach Corp. and Coachmen Industries Inc. both experienced double-digit market share declines, which Walworth said could be attributed to tightness in the diesel market.

Lug_Nut · 05-23-2007, 02:38 PM

Well they may be out of the top 10 in unit sales, but when did that ever equate to quality? I will bet they sold more Hyundi's than they did Bentley's, does that mean the Hyundi is better.
Hi Jeff. Nice to see you posting again. Keep doing it, we need you.

Peter

Jeff Regan · 05-23-2007, 03:17 PM

Peter,

Agreed, the fact that Thor and Forest River are
in the top 10 speaks volumes. Having said that,
it's clear that Newmar is not seen as the value
proposition it once was. This mantle seems to
have been passed on to Tiffin.

Newmar covers the whole spectrum of Class A, from entry level(albeit not as entry level as Thor) to very high end. When it comes to volume
of sales, the lower end will always sell more
volume, but the profit margin of the high end
coaches is very high. Going forward, the question will be; can Newmar service both ends
of the market?

When one looks at the competition, it is difficult to find a manufacturer that is successful servicing both ends of the market.
It is my opinion that Newmar will have to choose
one end or the other ultimately.

rebelsbeach · 05-23-2007, 04:05 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It is my opinion that Newmar will have to choose
one end or the other ultimately. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

An interesting comment...With all due respect given to your professional history, I do hope you're wrong. I know recent history shows Winnebago tried the higher dollar market,but with all respect to Winnebago Industries, there's no comparison from an Ultimate to the Essex or even the MADP for that matter.
I owned a Vectra and taking away the electrical issues, the woodwork and interior fit and finish was sub-par.
Tiffin starts low and tops out with the Zephry, not venturing into anything across from the Essex or King Aire...

I guess there's no easy answer...

Jeff Regan · 05-23-2007, 04:22 PM

Bob,

I hope I am wrong as well. Every Class A Winnebago I sold had electrical issues.
Not so with Newmar.

Again, one need only look at the competition
and ask which manufacturer has been successful
at the low end, middle and high end? Monaco
is the closest in this regard, but their gas
models haven't set the world on fire.

With all due respect to Newmar, if Monaco can't
do it, what chance does Newmar have? Just to be
clear, I'm talking marketing, not quality.

rebelsbeach · 05-23-2007, 04:28 PM

I understand....thanks!

Dav5942 · 05-23-2007, 06:00 PM

Believe the reasons for falling out of the top ten and not gaining market share are due to many reasons. A couple of which are:

Raising prices on models while cheapening the components.(Although other manufacturers are doing the same thing-it is more noticable with Newmar products)

Difficulty of getting issues taken care of without scheduling a visit to the factory.

Great new product offerings(which can be detrimental to the bottom line), but poor marketing of the new products(have found many people who would buy some of the new Newmar products but they have no idea what is available).

No market awareness from the top down.

rebelsbeach · 05-23-2007, 06:16 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Great new product offerings(which can be detrimental to the bottom line), but poor marketing of the new products(have found many people who would buy some of the new Newmar products but they have no idea what is available). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dave, when I ordered my Essex I was NEVER told of the possibility of what Newmar calls "specials" and as such I missed out on a LOAD of things I could've added to the coach.
Consequently, the dealer lost out on some option profit too...