Tiffin Acquired by Thor for 300mil.

[jorbill2or]

Wow so they all fall to the big boy fall out. Kinda sad to see all the owner brands fall to the big corporate groups. I see they got Van Leigh also.
Guess Bob and family can finally retire.

[dougrainer]

gemsworld wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
When Thor purchase Jayco, NOTHING was done to change their people or management. Doug

And your point is? You don't think Thor is going to tell management of acquired companies what to do and how to run the business? I've seen RVs made prior to Thor acquiring a company and the same RVs made after Thor's acquisition. The drop in quality was glaring.

1. I work for a Dealer that sells Airstream/Jayco and Tiffin. ALL have been purchased by Thor
2. I DEAL with all 3 companies almost daily and the Employees tell me not one thing was changed after Thor purchased them
3. I have known Bob Tiffin for 41 years. We have been a Tiffin dealer for 45 years. Doug

[down_home]

Buy out the Quality competition, lower quality, increase price due to less competition. Been the idea since Free Trade was the scream about 1973.
How many auto brands have we lost?How many models have we lost?
Anyone seen a two tone anything of chrome?
Anyone noticed all the new cars are crossovers/SUVs that are near identical in size shape and character? Anyone walked up to someone else's car of a different brand and tired to get in?

[wa8yxm]

Tiffin has had a great run. And a great reputation. From what I understand there have been cases where Mr. Tiffin himself responded to get a customer's problems fixed (I can just about imagine the color of the dealer service dept's underwear when the CEO and founder of the company that made the RV walks in and says "What seems to be the problem).

Alas Thor. Well.. They have a mixed reputation.

[fred42]

dougrainer wrote:
... Tiffin quality has gone down as Bob Tiffin, did not want to expand his work Force after the 2008 melt down. They are pushing out units as fast as they can with their existing work force and will pay the Dealers to fix problems they miss in Red Bay....

Unfortunate this was the case. The modern manufacturing discipline (since W. Edwards Deming) has realized that the primary function of quality control is not to fix the outgoing unit, but to fix the ongoing process.

I am continually amazed at the quality and openness to customization that Tiffin had for my 2007 coach. I am not the original owner. I have had several calls over the years with Tiffin technical folks and I have heard subtle references to the "Quality better before 2008" idea.

[rlw999]

jorbill2or wrote:
Wow so they all fall to the big boy fall out. Kinda sad to see all the owner brands fall to the big corporate groups. I see they got Van Leigh also.
Guess Bob and family can finally retire.

I think the small operations are taking advantage of the COVID peak in RV sales to sell while financials are good. If they don't have a lot of cash reserves, they'll have a hard time surviving the inevitable market lull in 2022 when there's a glut of 2-3 year old used RV's on the market, cutting into the demand for new units. After things return to normal, many people who bought an RV for travel during COVID may lose their interest in having a $150K depreciating asset taking up half their driveway (or paying $200/month to park it)

[steelhunter]

Maybe the Thor designers will show Tiffin how to configure a floorplan that allows for TV viewing without neck twisting like an owl.

[Community Alumni]

dougrainer wrote:
When Thor purchase Jayco, NOTHING was done to change their people or management. Doug

And your point is? You don't think Thor is going to tell management of acquired companies what to do and how to run the business? I've seen RVs made prior to Thor acquiring a company and the same RVs made after Thor's acquisition. The drop in quality was glaring.

[Lwiddis]

I heard the same story as Dougrainer. Makes sense too.

[wildtoad]

“ They are pushing out units as fast as they can with their existing work force and will pay the Dealers to fix problems they miss in Red Bay”

This process is one reason most if not all RV manufactures have an iffy to bad quality reputation. They let known issues out the door assuming the dealer will fix them, perhaps before customers finds them. Unfortunately their assumption is wrong. Many dealers do very little other than wash it, and perhaps fix any glaringly obvious issues before selling the RV to a customer. Then once it’s in the customers hands getting it fixed under warranty can be a real PIA. At least that was my experience with my BSS from Newmar.

[2bzy2c]

There goes the neighborhood.

[dougrainer]

The reason Bob contacted Thor was simple. There is a minor problem within the Tiffin family of how the succession of leadership will be when Bob finally walks away and retires. One of the sons was asked to walk away and took his buy out previous to the Thor purchase. My personal belief is, Bob felt selling would ease family tensions as the Tiffins get their hard earned money and the fate of the Company is now with Thor. Doug

[dougrainer]

Thor, like Berkshire/Hathaway, does NOT buy companies that are distressed or need help. They buy companies they feel are already run by good management. They do NOT replace senior people. Per the deal, Bob Tiffin and existing management will continue operating the company. Tiffin quality has gone down as Bob Tiffin, did not want to expand his work Force after the 2008 melt down. They are pushing out units as fast as they can with their existing work force and will pay the Dealers to fix problems they miss in Red Bay. Bob Tiffin regretted the amount of people he had to lay off from the 2008 melt down. When Thor purchase Jayco, NOTHING was done to change their people or management. Doug

[Dale_Traveling]

The strange part, if I'm reading the release correctly, is Tiffin approach Thor with the sale proposal.

"I was therefore thrilled to be contacted by Bob when he wanted to talk about joining the THOR family of companies."

THOR Announces Acquisition Of Luxury RV Manufacturer Tiffin Motorhomes

[gbopp]

I wondered what it would do for Tiffin's quality.
Will they use the same quality control as Thor? I did read somewhere the quality of Tiffin has been lower in recent years.
Or will they go to badge engineering and every third or forth unit off the Thor assembly line will be a Tiffin?

[Busdriver]

There goes their Quality