Another one bites the dust. Grand Design

MAybe Wini can find a rear cap for the Solitude line. Chris

Not at all surprised. I told my dealer a few months ago this would happen.

jtbuilds wrote:
$166,000,000 for each partner after 4 years of work. They must be very happy.

And they get to be a VP :)

I'm on my second Grand Design product now, and I see this as a good thing. It will give them much more clout with their suppliers and the dealerships. The customer service team is staying in place, the management team is not changing, and the new factories and service center will remain also.

Right now the RV industry is booming, but during the next downturn, smaller companies will struggle to stay in business. Having the financial base to weather any down turn will be good for the customers in the long run.

Jim

IdaD wrote:
It looks to me like Grand Design will continue to operate as an independent brand under Winnebago's ownership. That's not an uncommon scenario in the business world.

Winnebago's ownership is the key! They may be set up as an independent operation, but sooner or later the accounts will show up, trying to justify their existence and will start questioning every expenditure ! Without the original top management many things get lost, such as outstanding Customer Service, covering bad parts after warrenty expire's , you know little things like that, that built the company's reputation!

My only concern about the sale would be for Winnebago to start "pinching" GD to increase the profitability, which usually means, cutting more corners, vs raising the price.

We have been looking at the Grand Design line and are on the top of our list of quality unit. We looked a Winnebago 5th wheels and was not impressed with their line at all.
Oh well guess we will keep looking, the big LA RV show starts this Friday.

RAS43 wrote:
I don't understand the comment as the article states that Grand Design will continue to operate. And Winnebago has been around a long time and is a solid company. :h

Lets hope so. Owners have been very happy with GD's service so far. GD has been on our short list for a future purchase. I guess we'll all have to wait and see if it's business as usual in the future.

$166,000,000 for each partner after 4 years of work. They must be very happy.

Probably will see no change in Grand Design. Typical of the business world now for large companies to buy up other companies and merge them into their family of other businesses with little, if any, change other than maybe top management.