GWV/Sterling RV shuttered...

[markopolo]

Edited.

I hope this can all be worked out soon. I'd really like to see them back in operation building Class B Vans.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by avanti

Mumkin: What is the reference to the government "lying"? Missed that part.

There was a post on Facebook concerning a meeting with the bankers and Sterling people - the gist as my memory has it - at which various options were discussed for keeping the doors open - and the mayor was present and in seeming agreement. And then the mayor denied all knowledge to the media and claimed that he wasn't there.

There was more detail to the entry but my memory of the rest is too hazy to say anything...

[avanti]

Yeah, found it using the tip that Marko mysteriously chose to edit away.

Thanks to both of you.

[markopolo]

I'm as curious as anyone but on second thought that it's best to let those messages disappear being that they chose to delete them. I think Sterling RV made a good choice in deleting them.

Maybe all parties are trying to work this out.

[Fastpaddler1]

I tried to buy a new 2011 Legend in 2012 but GM wouldn't bite on my price offer which was reasonable. As a native Winnipegger I was not surprised at the move to Alabama but felt that the cold winter weather in Winnipeg was just a part of the reason. I have long admired GWV products and still do. I hope they survive and also am concerned for those who have bought one recently.

[avanti]

The small-fiberglass-trailer guys just got the word about Sterling's problems:

Sterling RV - Fiberglass RV

The discussion is entertaining but not particularly enlightening.

[wincrasher]

I know, they are freaking out a bit. I say no great loss in regards to the Trillium/Sidekick. The build quality they presented at Hershey last year was appalling.

[mumkin]

I haven't been all that impressed by the quality of any of the brands of small trailers that I have looked at. The Scamp looks like something my dad would have thrown together in the garage. A friend had one and was always putting it back together. But then the prices reflect that too. Rather a different market I guess.

I did kind of laugh that someone there thought it had to do with the Sterling Trucks... never even heard of them. They weren't building trucks so that wouldn't stand up in court.

[Robert Ryan]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

I know, they are freaking out a bit. I say no great loss in regards to the Trillium/Sidekick. The build quality they presented at Hershey last year was appalling.

I am on the Scamp Forum on Facebook. Not trying to offend the people who have them and can understand the attraction, the Australian towables are light years ahead of those tiny Caravans. The Oliver is going in the right direction, price is the big disincentive for the Oliver, from people on the Scamp Forum, but Scamp and the rest need to move with the times.
Here is a very lightweight Karakampa, equivalent to a Scamp here http://assets.cougar.nineentertainme...5327/44340.jpg

http://www.mynrma.com.au/media/karakampa_db.jpg
Another Lighweight a SportsCruiser
http://www.timetoroam.com.au/wp-cont...scruiser-2.jpg

http://www.sportscruiser.com.au/Port...IMG_0668_1.jpg

[skiMore]

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

I am on the Scamp Forum on Facebook. Not trying to offend the people who have them and can understand the attraction, the Australian towables are light years ahead of those tiny Caravans. The Oliver is going in the right direction, price is the big disincentive for the Oliver, from people on the Scamp Forum, but Scamp and the rest need to move with the times.
Here is a very lightweight Karakampa, equivalent to a Scamp here http://assets.cougar.nineentertainme...5327/44340.jpg

http://www.mynrma.com.au/media/karakampa_db.jpg
Another Lighweight a SportsCruiser
http://www.timetoroam.com.au/wp-cont...scruiser-2.jpg

http://www.sportscruiser.com.au/Port...IMG_0668_1.jpg

Those look pretty nice. I did a quick search for the karakampa and it looks like it is $50K AUD ($37K USD). As you said price is an issue.

[Bruceper]

The Aussie trailers are spectacular in what they have and can do. There is nothing here that I've seen that can compare.

I think this thread got derailed slightly lol

[markopolo]

You can get a free trial copy of Wednesday's Journal Record newspaper here: http://etypeservices.com/Journal%20R...7/default.aspx

Get it today because the Saturday edition will be posted tomorrow.

The headline is:

Bank files suit against Sterling RV in Canada, Marion Co.

Sterling RV suit filed.JPG

It's a large amount of money, $3 million mentioned in the article with the city potentially on the hook for 50%.

[booster]

Good find Marko-

It sure doesn't look good for them just moving down the road in Alabama like they had talked about doing. If their production equipment is put up for collateral, it could be tied up in litigation for a long time. It also appears the owners have left the country, so probably no plans to return. I wonder if the original fiberglass company they ran in Canada is still around, or if that had been rolled into Great West?

Moving a business is a tough deal under good conditions, and going to another country, very different work culture, into a very small labor pool, etc. would be a handful for even very experienced business types.

It sounds like they were probably in over their heads, experience wise, and made some very poor choices, which is really too bad for everyone. The workers in Canada, Alabama, and at all the vendors lose out, as well as the bank and any other suppliers that have unpaid claims on the remains.

A real bummer for all involved.

[markopolo]

The May 17, 2014 edition of the Journal Record had more info:

Link to newspaper: http://www.etypeservices.synology.me...azine53602.pdf

Quote from the May 17, 2014 edition of the Journal Record:

Of the $3 million amount, $2.4 million will be used to pay the existing debt on the company’s facility in Canada.

I think all involved really wanted to make this work but it must have been so hard carrying forward the old dept and the new expenses and production delays associated with the move.

My first RV was almost a Great West van - I lost out to a dealer in an auction.

I'm hoping that somehow they get this company going again. Back when I started the "Is there a need for separate engine generator?" topic -
http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5...ator-3603.html - I was thinking that Great West / Sterling RV could produce a high volume, low cost Promaster based B using this setup for power. I was thinking they could have a budget line and a luxury line.

[mikes47]

I wonder if any customers had put down earnest money just prior to the closing. They would be out both their down payment and a motor home!

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mikes47

I wonder if any customers had put down earnest money just prior to the closing. They would be out both their down payment and a motor home!

I'm pretty sure that they would have first dibs in a bankruptcy. Could take awhile, though.

[Davydd]

I purchased my Great West Van from a dealer and I did not pay a cent until I took delivery. Mikes47, they sold through dealers unlike our Advanced RVs direct. However, I did go to the previous owner GWVan factory to inspect the van I wanted and have a few minor changes made while still under production but I had to strike a verbal agreement with the dealer to do so. I'd guess the dealers are the ones holding bags. Customers would mostly be disappointed and set back in pursuit of getting a B.

Two things from the article. They evidently sold 40 years experience and 4 month backorders. They oversold the 40 years as that was from the previous ownership and we don't know how much of that experience as in employee experience made the move. 4 month backorder could be deceiving. Obviously, if moving a company is going on you could have just one order and it could be 4 months. What was their volume? The previous ownership had a capacity of about 50 RVs per year per my best guess. The new owners (Sterling) when I visited the factory in 2012 was working with less space to build Bs at the time. Backorders should not have been the question. How many had they built and what was their capacity should have been the question. Then the followup question should have been how many RVs would they have to build to repay a 3 million dollar loan.

We didn't know how secure the new owners were with capital so you had to go on good faith they would make it and why not? When someone is making a good product you want to believe and cheer. Languishing upkeep of their website, sudden totally surprising move to Alabama and slow progress of their Promaster were clues rationalized away. In hindsight, this doesn't seem a surprise.

[Robert Ryan]

The previous ownership had a capacity of about 50 RVs per year per my best guess.

That is tiny even by Australian volumes

[mikes47]

50 seems to be a reasonable target for niche, "custom" houses. Coincidentally, 50 per year is the target Mike N. has mentioned for Advanced RV. That number seems to allow time to work out customizations with clients and still keep a steady flow of delivered final product.

[wincrasher]

Someone has been posting online that they made a significant deposit and now have no contact with GWV.

I find it really interesting they haven't filed for bankruptcy yet. Normally you do that to head off lawsuits like this. So maybe they think they have a way out of the current situation, I don't know. Or they are in denial. From the Facebook posts, it sounds like they run like a mom & pop, family owned business.