Lancer Camper. Inc Sold Out

[mkasner]

Sad day for Lance customers. Owners are rolling in the $$$

https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/REV+Group%2C+Inc.+%28REVG%29+Reports+Purchase+of+Lance+...

[Fuzzy_Bear]

My hope is that the quality of their trailers starts showing up here on the east coast. We are approaching the time of moving from a camper to a trailer. We have looked at the Lance trailers for several years and the lessons they learned with truck campers seems to have made it into their trailer line. Good solid trailers. Most of what we have seen here in the northeast has had nowhere near the quality. Limited supply and added transportation costs make it a bit harder to find a good deal.

A second manufacturing location in the east or central part of the country would be nice. But I look back at what happened with Arctic Fox when they opened a facility in the east. Didn't work out so well for them. But if REV takes lessons from Lance, perhaps their bottom line will improve.

Doug

[jimh406]

Probably so Brad. 😄

[BradW]

Many years ago before we bought our 1996 Lance, their factory rep told me the following at the Atlanta RV Show:
Lance would never put a rubber roof on a T/C
Lance would never put a slide out in a T/C
Lance would never use Filon siding on a T/C
Lance would never build an aluminum framed T/C

I call Lance yesterday and asked the following:
Was Lance moving their factory to Indiana?
Was Lance planning on delivering their Indiana built T/C’s by drone?

They answered no to both questions. I see a pattern developing here.

Brad


.

[monkey44]

Yes, it will last.

Couple reasons - Walmart is attempting to cut into the online shopping market with free two-day shipping. AND, Amazon and Walmart will ship an inexpensive item because it wants ALL your business, and the small items eventually turn into much bigger items, and more frequent purchases.

Plus, the Amazon Prime concept is a money maker up front for Amazon, and more than likely some if not all shipping is built into the price and the shipping contract with UPS, FedEx, and USPS. Believe this, Amazon and Walmart do not pay the same shipping fees we do.

[Kayteg1]

sleepy wrote:


Of course Lance is no Amazon... 95% of American’s have no idea who or what a Lance is and if you told the they'd forget before they took their next breath.

Be realistic.

Lance doesn't need to sell to more than 5% of Americans.
You bought your Lance over 2000 miles from the manufacturer, didn't you?
Seeing Amazon blooming just short years after whole country economy collapsed, I just wonder how long it will last.
Lance survived where other RV manufacturers close the doors.
Amazon is giving me free next day delivery on $5 items. That makes no economical sense. You think it will last?

[sleepy]

d3500ram wrote:

silversand wrote:
.....I think that all the logistical, tax, locational, supply-chain proximity, and production line integration issue have been worked out loooooong ago by REV....now, it is just: acquire, acquire, acquire, acquire, acquire solid well-known brands.

Yep.

Agree with Derek

And as far as Kaytag1

Of course Lance is no Amazon... 95% of American’s have no idea who or what a Lance is and if you told the they'd forget before they took their next breath.

Be realistic.

[Kayteg1]

I wonder if Lance has enough power to do what Amazon did ?

[d3500ram]

silversand wrote:
.....I think that all the logistical, tax, locational, supply-chain proximity, and production line integration issue have been worked out loooooong ago by REV....now, it is just: acquire, acquire, acquire, acquire, acquire solid well-known brands.

Yep.

[silversand]

.....I think that all the logistical, tax, locational, supply-chain proximity, and production line integration issue have been worked out loooooong ago by REV....now, it is just: acquire, acquire, acquire, acquire, acquire solid well-known brands.

[rider997]

jimh425 wrote:

rider997 wrote:
Big towable travel trailers are transported on a rail flat car- two or three to a car.

Fwiw, a lot of towable travel trailers, and fifth wheels travel by truck and even smaller hotshot trucks on I-90. Occasionally, they use a goose neck and put multiple travel trailers on them and sometimes TCs as well.

They are easily recognizable as transportation because they have DOT signs on the side of the tow vehicles as well as temporary plates if there are plates at all.

You may have missed the next sentence: "Highway transport is even more expensive per mile than rail." 🙂

So, yes, they definitely do highway transport- but those haulers are only pulling _one_ 40' travel trailer, and often traveling empty on the return trip if they can't locate another eastbound load.

[silversand]

streetinsider wrote:
....Lance Camper will continue to be led by its innovative founders, Jack Cole and Jeff Souleles. “We’re thrilled to be joining REV’s iconic family of brands,” said Jack Cole, President of Lance Camper, “We look forward to leveraging REV’s scale and footprint in the RV industry to rapidly expand our distribution and further accelerate our growth...

.....this says it all. There is a 300 + page manufacturing cost effective business model thesis in those words. Integration, integration, integration --campers can be built in any (other) camper manufacturing facility, with few modification to production line (read: Lance's truck campers and trailers can be built at almost any REV facility)..

......and, there is cost savings in economy of scale manufacturing (in reduction of extraneous facility requirements; eliminating duplication of engineering, and product design; reduction of employee partners (duplication); products coming off the "line" closer to buyers; integration of dealer network(s); etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc)...

On edit: .....Lance probably hit a brick wall with their pre-buyout business model....now, the sky is the limit.

[jimh406]

rider997 wrote:
Big towable travel trailers are transported on a rail flat car- two or three to a car.

Fwiw, a lot of towable travel trailers, and fifth wheels travel by truck and even smaller hotshot trucks on I-90. Occasionally, they use a goose neck and put multiple travel trailers on them and sometimes TCs as well.

They are easily recognizable as transportation because they have DOT signs on the side of the tow vehicles as well as temporary plates if there are plates at all.

[rider997]

travelnutz wrote:
Kayteg1,

"My bet would be for Oregon."

I really doubt it! Lance doesn't use basically any wood in their RV's. Frames are steel, insulation is foam board, walls are Azdel composite, exterior is fiberglass product, interiors cabinets are Lite-Ply composite. None of which is made in or near Oregon or California. Lance might see some wood in shipping containers but that is incoming to Lance to be disposed of.

Oregon costs of living are approximately 122% of the national average which has a lot of bearing on the cost of labor and taxes mandated/business cost climate. While all the other locations mentioned have less than or far less than 100% of the cost of living numbers. Where we live which is a very upbeat region with ~3% unemployment constantly and also northern Indiana (the RV making center of the world and only 120 miles south of our home on Lake Michigan), the cost of living is at 84% to 88% of the national average and Texas and some other states are even lower yet. That is big and why high cost of doing business and labor issues operations are relocating so much. They are NOT stupid! Vehicles, RV's, and most major appliances among so many other things are made in middle America or the east side of the country and are shipped to the west and it has had no affect on them nor will it on RV's. They all sell competitively and have for decades.

The transportation comparisons you are making are completely off the mark. A high-roof boxcar for appliance transport is almost 10,000cf. An auto carrier holds more than a dozen cars. Big towable travel trailers are transported on a rail flat car- two or three to a car. Highway transport is even more expensive per mile than rail. If you look at transport charges to the west coast from an Indiana manufacturer (let's take Jayco for instance), you'll see $2000-$3500 transport charges. A Lance will have a $100-$500 transport charge.

Lance is paying peanuts for its Lancaster, CA industrial space. Their workforce is largely unskilled and low-paid, and California compliance expenses don't come close to the transportation costs to move their product from the midwest. Transportation costs are one of the primary reasons that Lance campers are so popular on the west coast, and barely seen east of the Mississippi. If Lance wants to move their market nation-wide, they would (IMHO) be more likely to open a second plant in Indiana than they would to shut down their current west coast manufacturing facility.

[travelnutz]

Kayteg1,

"My bet would be for Oregon."

I really doubt it! Lance doesn't use basically any wood in their RV's. Frames are steel, insulation is foam board, walls are Azdel composite, exterior is fiberglass product, interiors cabinets are Lite-Ply composite. None of which is made in or near Oregon or California. Lance might see some wood in shipping containers but that is incoming to Lance to be disposed of.

Oregon costs of living are approximately 122% of the national average which has a lot of bearing on the cost of labor and taxes mandated/business cost climate. While all the other locations mentioned have less than or far less than 100% of the cost of living numbers. Where we live which is a very upbeat region with ~3% unemployment constantly and also northern Indiana (the RV making center of the world and only 120 miles south of our home on Lake Michigan), the cost of living is at 84% to 88% of the national average and Texas and some other states are even lower yet. That is big and why high cost of doing business and labor issues operations are relocating so much. They are NOT stupid! Vehicles, RV's, and most major appliances among so many other things are made in middle America or the east side of the country and are shipped to the west and it has had no affect on them nor will it on RV's. They all sell competitively and have for decades.