I got out of the service end of the business for several reasons, but one of the big ones was personnel roll-backs when gas and diesel cost too much for many people.

I heard ALFA declared bankruptcy, and don't know what has been going on in the industry since several years ago.

ATWOOD, I think - was almost caught in a bankruptcy with their parent corporation, and so I wonder now who survived, and about the health of the entire RV industry itself.

Who is left? And who went down....

 

Fleetwood now only manufacturers motor coaches. Prowler was sold, I know.

 

I am sure Steve might have much better info than I do, but in my mind it seems that Lippert is sucking up things left and right as far as components go. The industry seems to be consolidating with Thor now the the gorilla in the room.

One bright spot, I think, that while Hitchhiker had gone out of business, they are now being produced again by Peterson Industries, the makers of the Excel. They are being made to Hitchhiker specs on the same line where the Excels are built in Smith Center, KS. After seeing Excels up close and personal that is our next trailer, assuming they have a 'floor plan' that suits the wife.

 

Fleetwood has a massive factory devoted to the motorized lines they have pioneered, where chassis arrive in two pieces (believe it or not) and are welded together to specification in the early stages of construction.

I took the factory tour when I was still and active tech...

So it doesn't suprise me that they would have continued it, considering the large capital investment they have in it.

ALFA on the other hand blew my mind - I don't know if they are still a player in coach manufacture, but they were leaders in the industry and noted for innovation.

* Bankruptcy does not automatically mean "Out of Business" - see "General Motors" for more info...

 

The RV industry is rocking full speed ahead, same as pick-up truck sales. Fuel prices have seldom impacted RV sales, but they tanked when credit vanished. Consolidation continues, but I think that is everywhere, much as I hate it. Dometic bought Atwood, not sure how that will impact Atwood's new air conditioners and refrigerators.

Remotes are everywhere and the industry is whining about the lack of trained technicians, nothing new there. Every time I turn around I see something I haven't seen before which keeps things from getting boring.

Sales are back to 2007 levels.

Steve

 

That's absolutely amazing.

But then, one of the things that UNIMPRESSED me about the shops I worked was the relatively untrained level of the techs in them, and managements unwillingness to hire people who were "SPECIALIZED" as in 'Electronics'

They all wanted 'Well Rounded' people, who could work on any part of a coach from Roofing, to Cabinetry, to major reconstruction such as having caps replaced on the front of them.

It is my experience that you just don't get quality from such generalized personnel.

But then my background is in an industrial level of aircraft maintenance. You have specific divisions with trained personnel in electronics, hydraulics, structure, engines, and so forth...

I can't imagine such a thing on a small scale level

Is it possible that the RV industry now needs to hire REAL technicians who DO have an understanding of electronics?

~I could get interested in that, but you can replace your OWN black tank, thank you very much...

 

The RV industry has been having the same conversations about training and lack thereof for decades. Rather than train people, they keep trying to build self-diagnostics into the components. Now, whether it is car and trucks or RVs, we increasingly have technicians who have lost their ability to troubleshoot. The root problem continues to be certification and training that produced paper credentials and technicians who can not fix anything.


My rant,


Steve

 

Steve, your rant is well founded. When I retired from the military 20+ years ago, the military was reaching a point where "techs" were no longer able to troubleshoot beyond pinning it to a replaceable component. Heaven forbid they had skills to actually repair that component.

That same mind set has settled into many other areas, including automotive and RV repair IMO (not to cast stones at you). In some cases (many, most?) I think that is the way manufacturers want it. Replace a whole component and you have made more money than just replacing a transistor.

 

There is another issue here that impacts quality or quality construction and that is somehow educating RV buyers. There are still too many folks buying floor plans rather than RVs and the industry knows this. It is really incredible how much solid construction has given way to "putting lipstick on a pig".


All it would take to make the industry turn on a dime is for consumers to stop buying what they are selling or buying from dealers without service departments. When I get requests for service virtually no one asks if I am certified or if I have any training. All anyone wants to know is how much something will cost. That has gradually been changing and I find more and more folks are going to my blog before they call me and I am glad to see that whether they use me or not for service work. I wish everyone would do that as it would change things for the better I think.

 

So they have to last, and be good to go from the beginning?

Realistically, I have to recall what Jim Fergusson told me about RV's when I first got involved with them, he said:

"Nothing made by the hands of man is ever perfect - and that is dang sure true of an RV..."

(Which was his justification for Service Departments)


A point about that is that people expect a thing that is perfect for the money they payed for the silly thing, but you can't even buy a house in La Jolla California with the building codes what they are there, and not find anything wrong with the place...


What I seriously think RV people should consider is that no matter what - "YOU AIN'T BUYING A HOUSE". An RV is an approximation of a house, and so far there is no such thing as one that lasts forever.

~ Except possibly AIRSTREAMS


I ALSO WONDER what makes people think a weekend getaway device that has plywood or less sides is impervious to wear and tear. They ain't made of BRICK

 

My thought here is not about perfection, but there is something wrong when there are so many problems right out the door. Remember the old boards in the Dometic refrigerators in the early 90s? They failed constantly and everyone knew they failed constantly including Dometic. How many years did it take before the board manufacturers copied Dinosaur's idea of putting the small light on the board to you knew it was powered? Should I really have to pull the water heater to get to the furnace? There are just so many things that are so obvious and so basic that could be done to make things so much better for owners. Half the cost of service work is due to shoddy design, in my opinion. It takes me longer to get to many things than it does to fix things.

 

So you've realised that finally - have you?

You have to understand that "ENGINEERS" have little concept of reality, or how to help others who have to repair things after they have got payed for their contracts.

They don't see how hard it is to get to parts that must be replaced, they care nothing for what it needs in order to track down a failure in their "SO CLEAR" concepts. What is necessary is only to create a product that somehow works - and devil take the consequences.

THEY GET PAYED.


The rest of us have to figure out how to deal with the mess that they all made of things....


For all they can imagine, everyone else makes as much money as they do and can "BUY A NEW ONE" every year.
But that is false economy


The true purpose of an RV is to be able to travel without having to pay for a hotel room

 

ALFA - the way I heard it was that the founder of the company (Dad) passed away.. Junior had his own gig going - or thought he did and ran that end into the ground. The rest of the family did not have any heart for the business and they shut it down to do a final settlement on Dad's estate... May be wrong as it was word of mouth.
I came very close to buying an Alfa Toyhouse fiver...

 

With all us baby boomers buying anything in sight, it's a wonder they make it off the lots before they break...

As long as a mfg can sell to the dealers and the dealers can sell everything they can, NO quality will be designed into them...

And IF quality built,
then the placement of those hard to get to components wouldn't be near the issue

then there's always the lemon law to fall back on when the mfg is too busy to fix it and the dealer has a 3 month waiting list !!!

 

I ran across this link a year or so ago it was just updated in October. For what its worth.
RV Top Ten - Current RV Manufacturers