Jayco taking over TS facility

[Ecker]

Jayco is forming a new subsidary to be called Entegra and make some high liine fifth wheel's and three class A's in the TS facility. The president of new company will be the former TS president.
here is release from RV Business

RV Business
Friday, April 4, 2008

Middlebury, Ind.-based Jayco Corp., the holding company for Jayco Inc., Starcraft RV and other subsidiaries, announced late Thursday (April 3) that it had acquired certain assets of the former Travel Supreme Corp., including raw materials, equipment and the 160,000-square-foot production facility in Wakarusa, Ind. The agreement was signed earlier that day. Other purchase details were not disclosed.

Jayco Corp. reported that it has established a new subsidiary, Entegra Coach Inc., that will begin immediately to hire workers and hopes to start production of two luxury fifth-wheel lines and three diesel-powered Class A motorhome lines by the end of this month.

Glenn Troyer, former president of Travel Supreme, has been appointed president of Entegra Coach, and a new management team is being organized. Other former white collar and blue collar employees of Travel Supreme will be hired in the coming weeks, and the new company hopes to reach employment of up to 125 workers within the first year, said Sid Johnson, director of marketing for Jayco Inc.

With the asset purchase, Jayco re-enters the Class A motorhome market, which it left in 2002 after disappointing results. The fifth-wheel products also represent a price-point sector in which Jayco has never participated, Johnson said.

"The best time to get involved in a situation like this is when the market is down,"� said Johnson. "We feel we will be able to do well in both segments."�

In reference to Jayco's previous venture into the Class A business, Johnson noted: "The difference in this case, we're not starting from scratch. We can pretty much hit the ground running. We have the advantage of knowledgeable personnel working on these projects. The intellectual properties we acquired give us a relative leg up on production and materials. We think we have an advantage going in, especially with the expertise of the people involved."�

Johnson said the sales team for Entegra Coach "will be charged with the responsibility of building an entire different dealer body from Jayco and Starcraft."�

Johnson explained the origin of the word "Entegra,"� which Jayco created for its new product. "We believe it speaks to two things: Jayco's commitment to operating in the RV business with integrity, even though we used an ˜E' instead of an ˜I.' And secondly, we think it is a good name to represent an RV company that operates in the luxury or upscale side of the business."�

Jayco Corp. held a solid third-place ranking in travel trailer and combined travel trailer and fifth-wheel retail sales in January, according to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc. (SSI) of Grand Rapids, Mich. In January, Jayco held 8.7% of the combined market, 10% of the travel trailer market and 6.4% of the fifth-wheel market, according to the SSI report.

[Ecker]

Jayco is forming a new subsidary to be called Entegra and make some high liine fifth wheel's and three class A's in the TS facility. The president of new company will be the former TS president.
here is release from RV Business

RV Business
Friday, April 4, 2008

Middlebury, Ind.-based Jayco Corp., the holding company for Jayco Inc., Starcraft RV and other subsidiaries, announced late Thursday (April 3) that it had acquired certain assets of the former Travel Supreme Corp., including raw materials, equipment and the 160,000-square-foot production facility in Wakarusa, Ind. The agreement was signed earlier that day. Other purchase details were not disclosed.

Jayco Corp. reported that it has established a new subsidiary, Entegra Coach Inc., that will begin immediately to hire workers and hopes to start production of two luxury fifth-wheel lines and three diesel-powered Class A motorhome lines by the end of this month.

Glenn Troyer, former president of Travel Supreme, has been appointed president of Entegra Coach, and a new management team is being organized. Other former white collar and blue collar employees of Travel Supreme will be hired in the coming weeks, and the new company hopes to reach employment of up to 125 workers within the first year, said Sid Johnson, director of marketing for Jayco Inc.

With the asset purchase, Jayco re-enters the Class A motorhome market, which it left in 2002 after disappointing results. The fifth-wheel products also represent a price-point sector in which Jayco has never participated, Johnson said.

"The best time to get involved in a situation like this is when the market is down,"� said Johnson. "We feel we will be able to do well in both segments."�

In reference to Jayco's previous venture into the Class A business, Johnson noted: "The difference in this case, we're not starting from scratch. We can pretty much hit the ground running. We have the advantage of knowledgeable personnel working on these projects. The intellectual properties we acquired give us a relative leg up on production and materials. We think we have an advantage going in, especially with the expertise of the people involved."�

Johnson said the sales team for Entegra Coach "will be charged with the responsibility of building an entire different dealer body from Jayco and Starcraft."�

Johnson explained the origin of the word "Entegra,"� which Jayco created for its new product. "We believe it speaks to two things: Jayco's commitment to operating in the RV business with integrity, even though we used an ˜E' instead of an ˜I.' And secondly, we think it is a good name to represent an RV company that operates in the luxury or upscale side of the business."�

Jayco Corp. held a solid third-place ranking in travel trailer and combined travel trailer and fifth-wheel retail sales in January, according to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc. (SSI) of Grand Rapids, Mich. In January, Jayco held 8.7% of the combined market, 10% of the travel trailer market and 6.4% of the fifth-wheel market, according to the SSI report.

[RustyJC]

That's an interesting combination. Jayco, for all its success in its traditional markets, has never really penetrated with any significant success the high end 5th wheel or the Class A marketplace. They have an excellent reputation for quality at their price point and working hard to ensure customer satisfaction. We've owned three (3) Jaycos (2 Designer 5th wheels and a Cardinal pop-up - our first RV) and were quite satisfied with our ownership experience.

With this purchase it appears they're getting a top notch management team, production facility, employee base, supplier network, etc. from the TS operation that's ready to hit the ground running. Jayco, on the other hand, brings deep pockets, long term stability and some potential economies of scale in the procurement channels, etc. to TS. The only downside I see going forward is the loss of the TS brand identity - perhaps Jayco couldn't justify paying for the "goodwill" associated with purchasing the name. The obvious downside looking backward is who is going to support the TS units already in the marketplace, especially those under warranty?

Rusty

[Tireman]

We are. You and me.

[slabman]

Rusty, don't you think the name change is their way of eliminating any liabilities like ongoing warranties, lawsuits, etc.? As much as it zaps me from any more warranty claims, I guess I would have done the same if I were Jayco. Still, there must be some trade-off between carrying on with an established name and creating an entirely new identity.

[Route 66]

Jayco didn't address the existing TS units, but IMHO, since it wasn't mentioned, it's not a good sign.

However, it's still early in the game.

[Ecker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ecker:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by slabman:
Rusty, don't you think the name change is their way of eliminating any liabilities like ongoing warranties, lawsuits, etc.? As much as it zaps me from any more warranty claims, I guess I would have done the same if I were Jayco. Still, there must be some trade-off between carrying on with an established name and creating an entirely new identity. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
-------------------------------------------------
Yes, having been involved in dozens of theses actions, one buys the assets only; leaving the liabilities with the former corporation/owner. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[RustyJC]

Certainly severing any remaining TS-related ties eliminates Jayco's assumption of any debts and liabilities that TS might have had, assuming TS could deliver clear title to the facilities. That's why Jayco bought the facilities, not the company.

Nevertheless, there's an entry on the balance sheet for "goodwill" - the name recognition and reputation associated with the Travel Supreme name and product. Had Jayco purchased the company, part of the purchase price would have been Travel Supreme's goodwill. Jayco didn't get that, but they didn't have to pay for it, either.

Rusty

[slabman]

I'm sitting here thinking about service options. I would assume the new line will be almost identical to what TS had been building, with the possibility of a little "tweaking" by the Thor guys. Introducing a few cost-cutting items, perhaps. But if they are to resume production by month-end, they can't make very many running changes. So the new lineup should be the same as the old, allowing the factory to do service work on older units. The question remains as to whether they'll want to work on older units, since implied warranty liabilities might become an issue.

As for me, I'm going to be happy going to the new independent service facilities set up by Ronnie and Bishop. Can't think of any reason to head back to the factory for work. I'm betting they cherry-picked the good techs and left the rest at the factory.

[RustyJC]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by slabman:
I would assume the new line will be almost identical to what TS had been building, with the possibility of a little "tweaking" by the Thor guys. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thor guys? Jayco isn't related to Thor. Jayco is a privately-held, independent manufacturer.

Rusty

[slabman]

Sorry, I meant Jayco.

[evpceo]

Does anyone have any specifics on teh new service option through Ronnie and Bishop? I bought a new 2006 Select last year from a dealer that did nothing to maintain it and therefore I had to rely on the factory; they were a little strange to work with and the result was puzzling (some stuff they said they fixed they did not) but all this came (unbeknownst to me) at the time of the demise. Now it makes sense. Love the coach but with the complicated nature of the machine I will need informed service help. I bought a 7 year extended warranty offered by the dealer (Monaco backed).

[slabman]

try this: www.supremervservice.com
You'll get much better service here than the factory could deliver. But then there's no warranty left either.