If you're planning on buying a new RV from a Canadian company..do it quickly... WHY?

Roadtrek Adventuous RS1 · 06-03-2018, 04:50 PM

It's entirely possible that the price of Canadian products will dramatically rise if they start imposing tarriffs from Canada in response to what's going on in the United States right now....

What do you think....?

Roadtrek, Leisure Travel and Pleasure Way are all Canadian companies....and Justin Trudeau recently said that tarriffs might be imposed on finished products from Canada sold in the United States...

Davydd · 06-04-2018, 02:22 PM

If you are talking about tariffs on steel, I believe Class B's destined for the USA market all come from the USA first. So that would be a wash. There is already a tariff on Sprinters coming into the USA that have work arounds with the assembly in South Carolina which adds to the cost already.

Roadtrek Adventuous RS1 · 06-04-2018, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davydd

If you are talking about tariffs on steel, I believe Class B's destined for the USA market all come from the USA first. So that would be a wash. There is already a tariff on Sprinters coming into the USA that have work arounds with the assembly in South Carolina which adds to the cost already.

It's my understanding, maybe I've been misinformed, the Sprinter built in Stugaart, Germany, goes to Canada as a cargo van..and Roadtrek... builds the conversion in Kitchener Ontario...The Prime Minister said that he's considering a tarriff on "finished goods" being sold in the USA.

mumkin · 06-04-2018, 02:50 PM

All US purchased RVs from the Canadian companies are built on US produced platforms. That has been... a law? a rule? most likely some sort of agreement for years.

When I got my first rig from Great West Van when it was in Winnipeg, it was delivered by the factory to my home. That is highly unusual, of course, but the factory had to drive down to where I lived, Minot, ND, to pick up a Sprinter from the local Dodge dealer for conversion. Pleasure way at that time bought all of their Sprinter platforms from my local Dodge dealer too.

Now the Canadian converters would get them from the US factory.

When I first called GWV about buying, they told me that I should probably make up my mind quickly because they only had one "American" Ford E350 left and they wouldn't be able to get the next model year because Ford had an issue with parts supply at that time and there was a 6 month or so projected delay. Another American woman was also interested, but I got my deposit in first. She had to wait the 6 or 7 months.

Anyone know if this is still the case?

gregmchugh · 06-04-2018, 04:16 PM

Yes, Canadian built Class Bs for the U.S. market are purchased from a U.S. dealer and shipped to Canada for conversion. I am not sure how it is handled the other way around though. Do U.S. RV companies need to buy Canadian chassis for units to be sold in Canada??

BBQ · 06-04-2018, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

Yes, Canadian built Class Bs for the U.S. market are purchased from a U.S. dealer and shipped to Canada for conversion. I am not sure how it is handled the other way around though. Do U.S. RV companies need to buy Canadian chassis for units to be sold in Canada??

ALL RVs for the CDN market are based on Canadian chassis.

The Sprinters come directly from Germany, not from the USA assembly plant.

gregmchugh · 06-04-2018, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBQ

ALL RVs for the CDN market are based on Canadian chassis.

The Sprinters come directly from Germany, not from the USA assembly plant.

I wonder if Winnebago gets both US and Canadian Sprinters directly from Germany. And is there a difference between the two when they leave the factory? They are in a Free Trade Zone so their US Sprinters don’t pass through the disassembly / assembly process like all the rest of the US Sprinters.

Roadtrek Adventuous RS1 · 06-04-2018, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBQ

ALL RVs for the CDN market are based on Canadian chassis.

The Sprinters come directly from Germany, not from the USA assembly plant.

I'll check and let you know....

Roadtrek is a Canadian company... and builds units for sale in Canada and the USA....

If they do the conversion in Canada...then shipped to USA. the conversion portion ..is a Canadian product .

gregmchugh · 06-04-2018, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

I'll check and let you know....

Roadtrek is a Canadian company... and builds units for sale in Canada and the USA....

If they do the conversion in Canada...then shipped to USA. the conversion portion ..is a Canadian product .

But the chassis comes from the USA and then goes to Roadtrek for conversion and then returns to the USA for sale. The USA Sprinter chassis has to go thorough the disassembly/assembly process via South Carolina before it goes to Canada for conversion. Only Winnebago gets to avoid this with the Free Trade Zone that they have set up in Iowa. When the Sprinter plan opens in the USA then the chassis will still have to come from there and go to Canada to get converted for the USA market.

Davydd · 06-04-2018, 11:47 PM

I'm more worried about the cost of Maple syrup which is already expensive since I sold my Maple forest last year.

gregmchugh · 06-05-2018, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davydd

I'm more worried about the cost of Maple syrup which is already expensive since I sold my Maple forest last year.

Just be careful of someone who sells it out of a barrel in the back of a truck, may be stolen from the Canadian global strategic maple syrup reserve. We have an strategic oil reserve, they have a strategic maple syrup reserve...

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/b...warehouse.html

Roadtrek Adventuous RS1 · 06-05-2018, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

But the chassis comes from the USA and then goes to Roadtrek for conversion and then returns to the USA for sale. The USA Sprinter chassis has to go thorough the disassembly/assembly process via South Carolina before it goes to Canada for conversion. Only Winnebago gets to avoid this with the Free Trade Zone that they have set up in Iowa. When the Sprinter plan opens in the USA then the chassis will still have to come from there and go to Canada to get converted for the USA market.

I'll let you know what Roadtrek tells me..via a private message...

BBQ · 06-05-2018, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBQ

ALL RVs for the CDN market are based on Canadian chassis.

The Sprinters come directly from Germany, not from the USA assembly plant.

I should clarify...

The Sprinter for the CDN market come directly from Germany.

The Sprinter for the USA market come from the USA assembly plant.

gregmchugh · 06-05-2018, 12:58 AM

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...he-chicken-tax

Roadtrek Adventuous RS1 · 06-05-2018, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBQ

I should clarify...

The Sprinter for the CDN market come directly from Germany.

The Sprinter for the USA market come from the USA assembly plant.

Listen, if you think it's efficient for Roadtrek, a Canadian company and upfittter for their products to have a tiny percentage of them sold in the USA..to be disassembled and reassembled in South Carolina and then shipped back to Canada for a conversion... it doesn't make sense to me...

I completely understand if you are talking about an American upfittter... different story...

Again, I'm going to call and speak with them directly... I'll let you know....

It makes more sense that the cargo van goes directly from Germany to Canada, without any additional charges from Europe... and is converted for the Canadian and North America market... The Erwin Hymer Group sells vans all over North America and Europe... Big company...

They are not a small company like Midwest Auto RV or Advanced RV... those are fine companies... but more like a boutique upfittter...

Winnebago and Airstream are American companies..

BBQ · 06-05-2018, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Listen, if you think it's efficient for Roadtrek, a Canadian company and upfittter for their products to have a tiny percentage of them sold in the USA..to be disassembled and reassembled in South Carolina and then shipped back to Canada for a conversion... it doesn't make sense to me...

I completely understand if you are talking about an American upfittter... different story...

Again, I'm going to call and speak with them directly... I'll let you know....

It makes more sense that the cargo van goes directly from Germany to Canada, without any additional charges from Europe... and is converted for the Canadian and North America market... The Erwin Hymer Group sells vans all over North America and Europe... Big company...

They are not a small company like Midwest Auto RV or Advanced RV... those are fine companies... but more like a boutique upfittter...

Winnebago and Airstream are American companies..

It is all because of the chicken tax.

gregmchugh · 06-05-2018, 01:55 AM

Not sure if the exact percentage but the majority of Erwin Hymer North America sales are to the US market not the Canadian market...

gregmchugh · 06-05-2018, 01:58 AM

Ford avoids the chicken tax too...

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/fe...toms-officials

gregmchugh · 06-05-2018, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Listen, if you think it's efficient for Roadtrek, a Canadian company and upfittter for their products to have a tiny percentage of them sold in the USA..to be disassembled and reassembled in South Carolina and then shipped back to Canada for a conversion... it doesn't make sense to me...

I completely understand if you are talking about an American upfittter... different story...

Again, I'm going to call and speak with them directly... I'll let you know....

It makes more sense that the cargo van goes directly from Germany to Canada, without any additional charges from Europe... and is converted for the Canadian and North America market... The Erwin Hymer Group sells vans all over North America and Europe... Big company...

They are not a small company like Midwest Auto RV or Advanced RV... those are fine companies... but more like a boutique upfittter...

Winnebago and Airstream are American companies..

Do you realize that besides the tariff on commercial trucks into the USA (the Chicken Tax) there is also the requirement that all vehicles sold in the USA must pass EPA testing and meet safety standards so that there are even more limits on which specific vehicles with specific powertrains will get imported into the USA. Most of the vehicles sold in Europe and Asia do not meet the standards necessary to be sold in the USA, only a very small subset do and they are generally designed specifically to meet these standards and are not sold elsewhere.

Boxster1971 · 06-05-2018, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

Ford avoids the chicken tax too...

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/fe...toms-officials

That article from 2013 is full of errors and implies that Mercedes has been building Sprinters in USA since 2007. WTF?

Generally the "Chicken Tax" applies to trucks/vans intended for commercial cargo. Vans built with multiple passenger seats are exempt from the tax. That is how Winnebago, Airstream, likely Roadtrek and maybe Pleasure-Way get around the tax. I was told by Mercedes USA executive many years ago that Sprinters for Airstream come into USA fully assembled via Baltimore harbor and are then trucked directly to Airstream in Ohio. Mercedes has a large vehicle preparation/receiving facility in Baltimore Harbor. If you look at a Google Earth image of the Baltimore Harbor auto storage yards you can actually see fully assembled Sprinters without windows and white window opening wrap ready for onward shipping.

Avoiding the Chicken Tax on vans is all about passenger seating beyond the front cab.

- - Mike
2012 Sprinter 3500 Extended converted B-Van by Airstream

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