Entegra at Hershey

[DSL417]

The early CTSs were not too bad price wise. Then they discontinued the STS and made the CTS-V their "cornerstone" and they got higher fast.

That said, based on the original discussion, forgot to mention that American Coach and Fleetwood have started to mix where they develop so that at least one AC is developed the same line as Fleetwoods. Maybe the question is, would you prefer the Entegra Class A gassers to be developed on the Entegra line (as is done with newxmar's various classes of coaches)?

[StevieD]

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

That seems to be the route that everyone in the industry is going. Even Foretravel is coming out with a 37 foot coach to appeal to those that can't spend the million plus for a 45 footer made by them. So it isn't just Thor, but industry wide.

I beg to differ. Shorter luxury coaches are for the baby boomers that are downsizing.

[mlacute1]

Originally Posted by az99

What a disappointment. Entegra display had 5x as many of their re named Jaycos than they had real Entegras. Pretty clear to me after that display which direction Thor is taking them. Can anyone say Cadillac Cimarron ? Flame away.

The larger diesel market is fixed, they re trying to make the pie larger, not just keep slicing it thinner. Most mature markets go through it, the current car offerings are a good example.

[manderson2228]

It would appear according to todays news that their gamble to downgrade the Entegra line has not paid off....

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/rv...iss-2018-09-20

[DSL417]

JMHO, but Thor is much larger than just the Entegra line...Read the article, not sure your conclusion is evident in Thor CEO's comments. But if that is the answer you wish to make of it, guess you can.

[Ann n Gene]

Thor IS much larger than just Entegra and we have no idea what the individual divisions did. We do know that Jayco has shut down two towable plants and dealer inventory of Entegras is at an all time high. It would be interesting know how the other divisions and the other manufacturers are doing. Newmar and Tiffin have no stock so no reporting requirements so we don’t have direct comparisons. All JMHO

[az99]

"and the company faced higher warranty costs"

From the article.

[brobox]

I read higher cost of materials, aluminum and steel with the new tariffs. Labor rates in the RV industry are at and all time high and hard to find. That will dip into profit in a hurry.

[Cruzer]

The recent "less than expected" sales results are pretty much common to every manufacturer. Retail sales are up but they are from dealer inventory. Unfortunately, many dealers overbought their spring inventory so they just didn't need to buy as much from the manufacturer at this point in time. If you look at the number of units sold per year and compare it to the actual number of units on dealer lots you'll find that there were more coaches on the ground this last spring than could ever be sold. This is just an inventory adjustment at this point in time.

But, according to Thor's official press release it appears that they aren't exactly hurting. Record sales, gross profits and net income before taxes:

Thor Announces Record Results For Fiscal 2018 | RV Business

I don't see that the addition of entry level products to a high end manufacturer is going to hurt Entegra any more than I would hesitate to buy a Corvette because I've seen a Chevy Cavalier. There are buyers for both segments and they pretty much know what they are looking at.

The Class A industry is not growing, except at the lower end. I fear that if Entegra strictly concentrated on the high end coaches it would fail to be profitable and would most likely get dropped eventually. The Reatta meets a need in a market segment that accounts for 57.6% of the class A diesel market sales. Those sales will help drive profitability to keep the entire line in good standing. To ignore that potential income would not be very prudent. After all, Chevy sure can't survive on their Corvette sales alone. They need the lower end vehicles to survive.

Granted, you could just buy a Jayco Embark instead of the Entegra Reatta. I've reviewed the Embark and it's a good coach. But this gives the Entegra dealers a lower end product to sell, hopefully getting customers in the door and as repeat buyers when they trade up to what a "real" Entegra is.

The real growth is in Class C and B coaches so there is potential there as well, although those lines can get more price competitive against other manufacturers. Tiffin launched the Wayfarer, a small class C on a Sprinter chassis. It hasn't caused buyers to shy away from the larger Tiffin diesel pushers. In fact Tiffin's sales are booming. I predict similar results at Entegra.

[Nowabeachbum]

Originally Posted by Cruzer

The recent "less than expected" sales results are pretty much common to every manufacturer. Retail sales are up but they are from dealer inventory. Unfortunately, many dealers overbought their spring inventory so they just didn't need to buy as much from the manufacturer at this point in time. If you look at the number of units sold per year and compare it to the actual number of units on dealer lots you'll find that there were more coaches on the ground this last spring than could ever be sold. This is just an inventory adjustment at this point in time.

But, according to Thor's official press release it appears that they aren't exactly hurting. Record sales, gross profits and net income before taxes:

Thor Announces Record Results For Fiscal 2018 | RV Business

I don't see that the addition of entry level products to a high end manufacturer is going to hurt Entegra any more than I would hesitate to buy a Corvette because I've seen a Chevy Cavalier. There are buyers for both segments and they pretty much know what they are looking at.

The Class A industry is not growing, except at the lower end. I fear that if Entegra strictly concentrated on the high end coaches it would fail to be profitable and would most likely get dropped eventually. The Reatta meets a need in a market segment that accounts for 57.6% of the class A diesel market sales. Those sales will help drive profitability to keep the entire line in good standing. To ignore that potential income would not be very prudent. After all, Chevy sure can't survive on their Corvette sales alone. They need the lower end vehicles to survive.

Granted, you could just buy a Jayco Embark instead of the Entegra Reatta. I've reviewed the Embark and it's a good coach. But this gives the Entegra dealers a lower end product to sell, hopefully getting customers in the door and as repeat buyers when they trade up to what a "real" Entegra is.

The real growth is in Class C and B coaches so there is potential there as well, although those lines can get more price competitive against other manufacturers. Tiffin launched the Wayfarer, a small class C on a Sprinter chassis. It hasn't caused buyers to shy away from the larger Tiffin diesel pushers. In fact Tiffin's sales are booming. I predict similar results at Entegra.

I agree Mark but it only works if you are adding some value to the product. Entegra, I think did a good job with the Reatta. Now it’s up to them to create some real distinction in the class b &c markets. Otherwise, using your Corvette analogy, if Cadillac started selling a rebadged Corvette just with different colors. The market would laugh at them and it would ultimately fail, just like many car lines have in the recent past. JMHO

[dave&ginny]

It’s true Newmar has a gas line which serves as a stepping stone for future diesel owners. But Newmar isn’t depreciating the current coaches by recycling the front and rear caps. Their gas models are unique and are easily identifiable.

Many Entagra owners of the 2015 or older models will suffer at resale time because their coaches look just like the lower end Jayco. The novice rver won’t know the difference at the campground when they start hearing of bad insulation or bad craftsmanship. All they see are the front caps that look alike.

In business you always take care of current customers in hopes of reselling to them. 4 or 6 year customers should be romanced not sold down the river

[az99]

Originally Posted by Nowabeachbum

using your Corvette analogy, if Cadillac started selling a rebadged Corvette just with different colors. The market would laugh at them and it would ultimately fail, just like many car lines have in the recent past. JMHO

They did. The XLR.

[MRUSA14]

Originally Posted by az99

They did. The XLR.

And the XLR failed in the marketplace. Production ceased due to poor sales. When’s the last time you saw one? See https://www.motor1.com/news/128256/w...-cadillac-xlr/