THOR Buys Tiffin Motorhomes for 300 Million

[DriVer]

THOR Buys Tiffin Motorhomes: What Happens Now?


Written by Patrick Buchanan in General Camper,Motorhomes,RV News

The RV world was rocked just 18 months ago when Winnebago Industries purchased luxury RV manufacturer, Newmar. What seemed unlikely, became a reality. Now, what seemed unfathomable has happened as well. THOR Industries, one of the “Big Three” in the RV industry along with the aforementioned Winnebago and Forest River, has purchased Tiffin Motorhomes for $300 million.

For diehard Tiffin Motorhome fans, it’s a bit like finding out your favorite sports team has just moved to another city. Tiffin, long known for quality coaches with a consistently high customer ranking and a great factory service center experience, will now fall under the vast THOR umbrella. Devoted Tiffin owners are now left to wonder what happens next.

Will Tiffin Motorhomes Stay in Red Bay, Alabama?

One would assume that Tiffin would remain outside of the Elkhart bubble, at least geographically speaking. How will this acquisition affect pricing, quality control, availability, and delivery times? Will those mecca-like pilgrimages to Red Bay, Alabama for factory service continue? Will Bob Martin take over kitchen cabinet door signing duties from Bob Tiffin?

Much like those Newmar customers, Tiffin owners have enjoyed a bit of an elite status. Until their recent roll out of the Wayfarer series of Class C RVs, Tiffin Motorhomes has primarily been known as an upper-end Class A RV manufacturer. Tiffin proselytes are as devoted to “roughing it smoothly” as they are the brand itself. That confident swagger that comes with driving and owning 40+ feet of quality diesel motorhome carries over into conversation, whether sitting around the campfire or in popular RVing forums.

What Happens Next?

Will that confident swagger lose a little of its swag, now that Tiffin Motorhomes is just another THOR brand? Will the vast infusion of cash from THOR Industries help take Tiffin to the next level, or just water down the overall brand? Will Tiffin Motorhomes be pressured into building more motorhomes faster, causing quality to suffer? Or will THOR take the Berkshire-Hathaway approach (Forest River’s parent company) and let a successful business continue to be successful, while fine-tuning sensible cost saving measures? Will Tiffin Motorhomes shine even brighter under THOR?

Time will tell. The jury is still out on how Winnebago’s acquisition of Newmar has affected that brand, so expect the same with this one. The big three just got bigger, and Tiffin Motorhome owners are wondering, what happens next? Tiffin fans can learn further details about the acquisition of Tiffin by THOR Industries on RVBusiness.com.

Want to hear what other RVers are saying, head over to the Tiffin Owners forum on iRV2.com.

[KenJr]

Kind of a kick in the teeth but where the market is going!

[lllkrob]

Who knows how this will play out. When Thor bought Entegra everyone predicted the end but long time Entegra customers are saying the quality has actually improved some. Tiffin could certainly use a quality improvement based on what I've seen over the last few years. I was going to trade in my 2013 but the new 2019 and 2020 coaches I looked at were poor examples of Tiffin quality. I guess now I will just keep my old 2013 til I'm done with the RV life.

[NLOVNIT]

I'm still hoping the 2021 Rally will be held, that Bob will be there & that I'll get my cabinet door signed with a genuine Bob Tiffin signature!

Lori-

[TourNut]

Even more money for chief investor , g. soros !

[DKRITTER]

From what I have read so far wouldn't it be more accurate to say " Tiffin sells to Thor for $300 million".

My understanding is Tiffin went to Thor.

[wjohnson913]

Originally Posted by TourNut

Even more money for chief investor , g. soros !

Not sure about that. He is not listed in the top 10 owners of Thor Industries and his mutual fund Soros Fund Management is not listed in the top ten mutual funds investing in Thor Industries.
At the bottom of the top ten owners and holding companies own just over 1% each.
He or his fund may be investors but certainly don’t hold enough stock to affect any operations.

[TourNut]

Originally Posted by wjohnson913

Not sure about that. He is not listed in the top 10 owners of Thor Industries and his mutual fund Soros Fund Management is not listed in the top ten mutual funds investing in Thor Industries.
At the bottom of the top ten owners and holding companies own just over 1% each.
He or his fund may be investors but certainly don’t hold enough stock to affect any operations.

7th page of list of companies , 14th down : THOR !
http://www.anderson4theconstitution....sSorosOwns.pdf


Scroll all the down to the "T"s : THOR !
https://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bi...gi?read=148413


Many other similar lists :
https://www.bing.com/search?q=All+co...tes+and+Abroad

[vectra 04]

IF YOU dont like Soros trade for a Winnebago a great brand

[Hurricane-TX]

If Tiffin was a going concern, they would never have sold out to Thor. Face it, Tiffin was in trouble and the family decided to cut and run while the business was still worth something. Sure, one of the family is the 'president' or 'ceo' or some such title, but Thor is running the show and any remaining quality will suffer.

[Col. Klink]

I think that in future discussions Tiffin rigs will be referred to a pre-Thor or post-Thor. Quality will go down in much the same way Thor has done to Jayco. It doesn't happen all at once, it creeps in like a cancer year by year. A frequent first target is the upholstery and then it spreads from there. It's disturbing but it is what it is and nothing we can do about it really.

[RVFunlovers]

I have not seen Entegra go down hill as part of Thor. I am not saying it will not happen but it seems about the same so far.

[Donskiman]

Tiffin build quality has been an issue for far longer than the buyout by Thor. Most Tiffin owners acknowledge there are multiple issues, but the Tiffin Customer Service responding to the issues is generally regarded as excellent. Whether or not that will change remains to be seen.

[deprived]

Originally Posted by TourNut

Even more money for chief investor , g. soros !

Stop.