Winnebago in financial trouble??

[Larry in NC]

At a weekend rally, past weekend, I heard that
Winneabago was in financial trouble and is about to file for re-orgainization?

Has anyone heard this?

 

[Larry in NC]

At a weekend rally, past weekend, I heard that
Winneabago was in financial trouble and is about to file for re-orgainization?

Has anyone heard this?

 

[Mike in Florida]

Winnebago has virtually zero debt, and sufficient liquidity to carry them a good while. Clearly they are taking the necessary steps to remain viable in a VERY difficult market. There are a lot of other manufacturers I would be far more concerned about than Winnebago

 

[Easyrider-WO]

I haven't read anything about Winnebago being in financial trouble. I do know they closed down completely recently for 1 week due to low demand and inventory surplus, but that is a normal business procedure even during good times. Why build more units if you haven't sold enough of the ones already built? Perhaps you can give us some more information on the news you heard? What rally were you at, and who passed out the information. Was it someone who would be in a position to know or was it just people making conversation? Winnebago has been around a while and I have a hard time believing they would be in that much trouble.

 

[Carle-WO]

If you are a shareholder and listen to their quarterly conference calls and read their financial reports, you will note that they are:

1) debt free (no debt service to pay)
2) have about three hundred million in repurchased stock they can sell again if necessary
3) have about one hundred million in cash for operating
4) stock price closed today near $15.50.

They seem to be in pretty good shape to me, at least when compared to Monaco and Fleetwood. Sales are tough but with their product mix and willingness and ability to change with demand along with their physical location, they should be able to continue to prosper.

Carle McFarland, 2004 Journey 36G

 

[SCVJeff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Carle:------------------------snip--------------
They seem to be in pretty good shape to me, at least when compared to Monaco and Fleetwood. <span class="ev_code_RED">Travel Supreme, National, Alpha, __________,__________</span>
----------------------snip----------------

Carle McFarland, 2004 Journey 36G </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[vicsryd]

At this rate, Winnebago may be one of the few left standing (i.e. last man wins).

As you probably know National RV (.e.g Tropi-Cal, Tradewinds) folded last Thanksgiving with little hope of coming back. Western RV (e.g. Alpine) shut their doors at the end of April because they got stuck with hundreds of bad chassis that couldn't be fixed. Last week at the NWRR rally I heard from industry sources that both Alfa and Fleetwood are on the edge as well.

The latter two bother me as they are both major buyers of Freightliner (Daimler Trucks) chassis and there could be a ripple effect.

Secondarily, two of the bigger RV dealer groups in the Pacific NW collectively laid off about 100 of their staff in the past two weeks.

 

[jtharley]

Alfa has already gone.........See Ya!

 

[Kyle241]

1) debt free (no debt service to pay)
2) have about three hundred million in repurchased stock they can sell again if necessary
3) have about one hundred million in cash for operating
4) stock price closed today near $15.50.

While I agree Winnie is in better shape than most other RV manufacturers, these points are nothing to run to the bank with. Point #2 will not get them much cash. Selling stock in this market for a product that is a total luxury, that uses a lot of fuel and will likely have to change dramatically over the next 5-10yrs (alternative fuel of some kind) will only raise more concerns and possible run on the stock.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Winnie product. I just don't like where we are economically and this vertical is a short in the market. It is going to be tough for the manufacturers, I love RV's, I hope they stick around with a solution that we can have into the future.

Kyle

 

[OldForester-WO]

I don't know where vicsryd got the comment:

"Western RV (e.g. Alpine) shut their doors at the end of April because they got stuck with hundreds of bad chassis that couldn't be fixed."

I own a 2006 Alpine, have accumulated nearly 30,000 miles, and have been very close to their issues and many other Alpine owners via the Alpine Coach Association. Let me state that the last thing Western RV had was any problem with their chassis. The Peak Chassis they made is one of the smoothest riding, best handling chassis made and the common quote among those who own and drive an Alpine is that "Nothing drives like an Alpine". And chassis problems have been very rare, almost unheard of.

WRV may have had trouble generating cash to stay afloat, but they built a very-well liked, extremely well-handling coach that has a very loyal group of owners. Most of the quality problems with Alpines have been with systems they didn't manufacture, like HWH, or radiators, that they assembled into the coach, and many of these have been fixed by the component suppliers.

They had a few problems with their cheaper Avalanche version a few years ago, but they didn't make many of those coaches.

So from an owner's standpoint, I don't know where the bad chassis comments on Alpines came from. They are great machines, and I, like many Alpine owners, plan to keep ours.

 

[hamguy]

I'm reminded of the flick, "Kelly's Heroes". Recall Donald Sutherland (Oddball) talking to Moriarity. "Would you cut it with the negative waves?"

 

[Kyle241]

To continue your lines Hamguy:

Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?

Classic...

 

[DriVer-THOR]

I think we're done with this thread. Winnebago isn't going broke.

Shutting down now.