Any updates on Hymer/Roadtrek/Carado future?

[ClassB4Me]

Originally Posted by booster

I wonder how much of the debt is secured, as that could have a huge effect on the value for selling or liquidating, as there might not be a lot to sell.

1) The warranties are a liability that no one will want to honor (they were exceedingly generous)

2) Not sure how Canadian law works but the preferred suppliers / creditors will get paid 1st

3) Not sure if the Cambridge facility was purchased or leased

4) There was no mention of cash landed with EHG NA when EHG rewrote the sale to Thor

Bottomline: Where is that $100 million - it is crucial to the future

[ClassB4Me]

Four weeks ago today, RV Daily Report published a story regarding a financial scandal that rocked Erwin Hymer Group North America, and a few days later, the company admitted to hiring auditors to review the company’s financial records.

At the time, former CEO Jim Hammill called the story an astonishing fabrication.

Thor Industries subsequently excluded the sale of the North American operation from is purchase of Erwin Hymer Group.

In a message received after this story was first reported, Marcel Champoux, senior director of motorized for Erwin Hymer Group North America, noted the following:

“Why do you have to post what a disgruntled employee has to say, instead of waiting and getting the truth. False news, you take the cake.

“I was employed with Erwin Hymer until today. I can assure you that they did not lie to anybody. If you could not see that this was one of the options, you had to be blind or stupid. Under the circumstances all employees were treated fairly. It is a sad, and unfortunate situation, but the Hymer family is not the guilty party here.”

Link

[avanti]

I am very sad to say so, but I see little residual value here, with the exception of the "Roadtrek" brand. Once upon a time, RT vans were distinctive and unique. These days, they are just another B-van, the three fake "window" stickers notwithstanding. The assembly lines, tooling, know-how, etc could be trivially replicated by Thor or Winnebago at existing facilities at little cost, should one or the other decide that selling vans called "Roadtrek" would attract some market share.

It is a pretty good brand, so we may well eventually see such vans. I wouldn't be surprised if they someday come off the same line as Airstream Interstates. But, I doubt that the models, floorplans or technologies will be seen has having much value in the marketplace, much less the factories or their employees. If they had serious hopes of selling the business as a going concern, they wouldn't have been so quick to shutter the facilities.

Very sad.

[TerrierTude]

I wonder if that fearless award-winning journalist Mike Wendland will jump in and report. Oh, no that's right. Back when he was still getting free rigs from Roadtrek, he was shutting down any speculation with loud screams of "RUMORS" and urging everyone to just hide their heads in the sand because, if we just thought about unicorns and rainbows, everything will turn out all right. I bet he wastes no time, as LTV Brand Ambassador, completely trashing Roadtrek and saying "I knew all along!"

[ClassB4Me]

Would there be any reason for the Carado, Hymer and other links to operate normally but the Roadtrek link is down?


Erwin Hymer Group NA

[TerrierTude]

YOu spoke too soon. ALL the websites are now down: Erwin Hymer NA, Roadtrek, Carado...

[Boxster1971]

It is sad to see another B-van manufacturer go though a death march like what happened to Great Western Vans. Both were innovators in the B-van marketplace.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by TerrierTude

YOu spoke too soon. ALL the websites are now down: Erwin Hymer NA, Roadtrek, Carado...

But Roadtrek site is still up...

https://www.roadtrek.com/

[ClassB4Me]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

But Roadtrek site is still up...

https://www.roadtrek.com/

Maybe the bill on the West Coast replication server has not been paid.

Still down over here.

[Glamper]

the rebate still live.... bet we could get more than 5K off today http://roadtrek-proof.staging.mvpdes...Event-info.pdf

[Glamper]

I assume you know by now.. https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1613497

[Glamper]

Under their watch. And why no mention of COO Stratton through all of this, he was one of the suspended execs? What was his role in it.

[Glamper]

5pm Pacific time Feb 15 - no more roadtrek.com .... This site can’t be reached The connection was reset.

Main phone number had messages they would be closed Monday for family day...that will be a long family day. would have thought phones would be disconnected ASAP or at least no pickup.

[fmdg]

Check out the news-story the link:

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/employe...dlE0XlPoq_yO3Q

[avanti]

https://www.therecord.com/news-story...lant-shutdown/

[mumkin]

Personally I would think that the employees might have a case against the Hymer family who took their billions and are slinking off to the airport. They bought the company. I suspect that the activities of the 3 criminals at the top was in full swing when they arrived and their due diligence was lacking.

Didn't they bother to do audits? Even before their purchase? Or did they let the CEO,CFO. and COO hire their buddies to do it? They should have been caught... and Hymer should have to pony up to get the company back up and running.

I'm personally disgusted at their lack of ethics... but suspect that this bothers them not at all...

[Davydd]

This had to be going on for years to lose 100 million. With all the reported problems with the Etreks in hindsight offering 6 year warrantees may have just been a pyramid scheme to goose sales knowing the company would not be around to honor them. The exit plan didn’t work. Thor was wise and Winnebago upset the plan with their growth.

[wincrasher]

This is going to liquidation. You don't let the websites go and fire all your employees if you have any hope to sell the company.

My prediction is the only thing of value is the Roadtrek nameplate. You can slap that on any van. The big question is if anyone could sell Hymers in the US. Is ownership of that IP with Thor now, or does it go with EHGNA.

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Personally I would think that the employees might have a case against the Hymer family who took their billions and are slinking off to the airport. They bought the company. I suspect that the activities of the 3 criminals at the top was in full swing when they arrived and their due diligence was lacking.

Didn't they bother to do audits? Even before their purchase? Or did they let the CEO,CFO. and COO hire their buddies to do it? They should have been caught... and Hymer should have to pony up to get the company back up and running.

I'm personally disgusted at their lack of ethics... but suspect that this bothers them not at all...

Unfortunately, ineptness and mismanagement is not a crime in a company is privately held. They have no fiduciary obligation. If it was a public company traded on the exchange, that would be different.

I don't see a case to be made by any employees. That's what bankruptcy is all about - they Hymer family is shielded from any recourse. What can be claimed is any monies in accounts or property owned by EHGNA, which is suspect is minimal and all they have are a few items of intellectual property and a mountain of debt. I do see that the state could go after assets to recover any pension obligation that would be picked up by whatever insures pensions in Canada.

[mlts22]

I was reading on FB groups today that RV service depots are told to not expect any parts needed from RT/Carado/Hymer/etc. So, anything related to e-Trek or anything RT has that is proprietary, you are basically dead in the water.

This is an ironic lesson. A few years ago before I had a financial disaster (not of my own making), when I had a Sportsmobile van in the works, the one thing I made sure to avoid was anything that could not be easily replaced. No multiplexed wiring. Separate thermostats for the A/C and furnace. A separate generator that can be replaced. I was deathly afraid of stuff that depended on a single company.