Bloomberg reports Thor bid on Hymer

BBQ · 08-30-2018, 01:45 PM

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Bloomberg reports Thor, Centerbridge Partners bid on Hymer

Game changer ?

Bloomberg reports Thor, Centerbridge Partners bid on Hymer GmbH | RV Daily Report

avanti · 08-30-2018, 02:01 PM

Swell.

They did such a fine job with Airstream.

gerrym51 · 08-30-2018, 02:02 PM

maybe-but which way?. Thor has multiple divisions of multiple brands and airstream which makes a B

booster · 08-30-2018, 02:13 PM

Gee whiz, maybe they can straighten out Hymer as well as Hymer has straightened out Roadtrek!

mumkin · 08-30-2018, 02:23 PM

That should take damn near the whole B market totally into the toilet... Thor's quality control is as bad, if not worse than RT. And the thing that killed RT quality control was the investment company that took over in 2011. So it will only get worse whichever choice.

avanti · 08-30-2018, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mumkin

That should take damn near the whole B market totally into the toilet... Thor's quality control is as bad, if not worse than RT.

I'm going with "worse" -- especially adjusted for price. I haven't owned our Interstate in four years now, and I STILL get annoyed thinking about the disgraceful initial build quality. What they did to the Airstream brand is just sad.

gerrym51 · 08-30-2018, 02:35 PM

I searched google for this subject.

It appears Hymer has put itself up for sale 'worldwide'.

Thor is bidding for the whole Hymer company everywhere.

booster · 08-30-2018, 03:57 PM

It sounds like the family wants to cash out. You have to figure that the whole getting into the US market has taken a huge amount of cash, and maybe credit, to get this far. They probably figure that the amount they can get is about as high as it will get, so time to grab it and run.

You never know, maybe the US operations are on the verge of failing, which could be really expensive. Being private, nobody knows how leveraged they are at this point.

Billyboy46 · 08-30-2018, 05:03 PM

They never did anything with the light-weight trailers, maybe they were running out of money and maybe they realized that fighting the likes of Thor and WGO for marketshare would be a long slow battle. Doesn't sound good.

gerrym51 · 08-30-2018, 08:33 PM

Whether Thor succeeds or not and Hymer sells to european or does levereged buyout as far as I know the only Hymer stuff in North america is the Class B.

Either way that division will probably wind up in an American companies hands.

GeorgeRa · 08-30-2018, 08:40 PM

I didn’t expect this, but Hymer made a few serious mistakes; 4-hour vans didn’t go well, overall quality was appalling (my observation by visiting Camping World), no management shakeout, unclear plans for travel trailers towed by passenger cars – this market is tiny in NA and would need to be nurtured in size to match manufacturing capacity - mess.

It is possible that Hymer is anticipating a major slowdown in EU and NA, too many major shifts like hard Brexit or sanctions which can cause unpredictable results, so the Hymer family decided to run.

mlts22 · 08-30-2018, 08:55 PM

I don't understand Hymer's strategy. They made some half-arsed attempts to get in the US market, and have so many different brands (SUNLIGHT from camping world, the Sonne, which had some prototypes, the Carado line, Roadtrek, and finally their name brand.)

Who in their right mind would try to do so many different models at once?

What Hymer should have done, was buy Roadtrek, and start offering the Aktiv under the RT name. Run with that for a few years, until they have some more understanding and feel for the US and Canadian markets. From there, once they know what they are doing, then open up the Hymer franchise.

GeorgeRa · 08-30-2018, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlts22

………………………….
Who in their right mind would try to do so many different models at once?
…………….

and trailers!

gerrym51 · 08-30-2018, 09:42 PM

If Hymers problem was just north america they would just sell the division or close it down. i'ts really a very small part of their total company.

However -what ever the outcome of their sale-North America will still be a very small part of the company.

You know what usually happens to very small parts of a company that is thousands of miles away from the rest-especially when that part is probably a money loser. Since I don't know that for a fact it's just conjecture.

Since i sold my roadtrek i rarely go to info sites on it. I have no ide even if they have solved their ecotrek issue and are still having to replace a lot of them.

mlts22 · 08-31-2018, 05:57 PM

I have noticed that new technology pops up in RVs all the time. However, it takes almost a decade before it becomes reliable technology. Part of RT/Hymer's downfall likely was making very cool new stuff, but not really having it work down the road. It would have been better for the tech to be phased in, rather than replacing major subsystems with blue-sky promises, only for those to be never kept.

Had Hymer focused on three lines of class "B"s, similar to how Winnebago is doing things, they would have been far better off. One line would be 4x4 Sprinter based, Spartan interior, power comes from a second alternator... similar to the Winnebago Revel. Another line would be a 24' Sprinter, latest and greatest engineering, European floor plan, the works. Finally, a model designed to be mass produced effectively, on a Transit or ProMaster chassis, and designed to be reasonably affordable. In Europe, Hymer knows how to make decent rigs, and $70k will get someone a very nice class "B" over there, even factoring US/EU currency rates.

booster · 08-31-2018, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlts22

I have noticed that new technology pops up in RVs all the time. However, it takes almost a decade before it becomes reliable technology. Part of RT/Hymer's downfall likely was making very cool new stuff, but not really having it work down the road. It would have been better for the tech to be phased in, rather than replacing major subsystems with blue-sky promises, only for those to be never kept.

Had Hymer focused on three lines of class "B"s, similar to how Winnebago is doing things, they would have been far better off. One line would be 4x4 Sprinter based, Spartan interior, power comes from a second alternator... similar to the Winnebago Revel. Another line would be a 24' Sprinter, latest and greatest engineering, European floor plan, the works. Finally, a model designed to be mass produced effectively, on a Transit or ProMaster chassis, and designed to be reasonably affordable. In Europe, Hymer knows how to make decent rigs, and $70k will get someone a very nice class "B" over there, even factoring US/EU currency rates.

I think Roadtrek and the investment group somehow convince Hymer that there advanced system were state of the art and working well, which certainly hasn't been the case from what we have seen. The fact that they dove right in an built new factories and bazillion "see what sticks" models just seems like a really bad business decision. All the issues that they had trying to get Spartan up to speed in North America well could have been Hymer judgement, looking in hindsight at how poorly the Roadtrek deal has worked out.

ClassB4Me · 08-31-2018, 08:23 PM

Since the founder died approximately five years ago, the widow and children have evolved in their thinking of maintaining a significant interest in the family-owned company to selling the company outright.

Looks like they will cash-out at the top of the market if the deal goes through.

As Booster stated, a lot has changed for Hymer NA and I have not seen updates about the new production facility in Canada.

2017 Opening of New Facility - '“This is a family business and so is the Erwin Hymer Group and it makes a big difference when you’re dealing with people that care about people.” stated Jim Hammill, President and CEO of EHGNA. “It’s people that make this business strong, you can see our people truly care about what they do. This is a proud day for all of us here at EHGNA.” Adds Hammill'

The motorhome and caravan brands American Fastbacks, Buccaneer, Bürstner, Carado, Cliffride, Compass, Dethleffs, Elddis, Eriba, Etrusco, Hymer, Niesmann+Bischoff, Laika, LMC, Roadtrek, Sunlight and Xplore, the motorhome hire companies Best Time RV, McRent and rent easy, the chassis specialist Goldschmitt, the accessories specialist Movera, the trailer tent manufacturer 3DOG camping and the touring portal freeontour all belong to the Erwin Hymer Group.

BBQ · 08-31-2018, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClassB4Me

. . .

. . . I have not seen updates about the new production facility in Canada.

. . .

The new Hymer factory in Cambridge Ontario, a stone throw from the Roadtrek factory in Kitchener Ontario, has been in production since late last year.

The facility is tiny compared to the European factory.
It is making the Aktiv RV for now, will be adding travel trailers later.

https://erwinhymergroupna.com/erwin-...ing-cambridge/

https://www.therecord.com/news-story...-in-cambridge/

mumkin · 09-01-2018, 01:56 AM

A Facebook poster was just at the factory and saw the trailers on the line. They were supposed to hit the market spring a year ago, but I think the issue was the AC. He was told that they are going with the undermount AC - same one they are using in the pop-top Activ.

cruising7388 · 09-01-2018, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mumkin

A Facebook poster was just at the factory and saw the trailers on the line. They were supposed to hit the market spring a year ago, but I think the issue was the AC. He was told that they are going with the undermount AC - same one they are using in the pop-top Activ.

I don't know the current state of these undermount ACs but the one I heard running on a Roadtrek CS Adventurous at Pomona last year was damn near as loud as an Onan generator.

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