Jim Hammil leaving Roadtrek/Hymer?

[wincrasher]

Anyone else heard this rumor? They up and cancelled a bunch of marketing events for 2019 as well last week.

I guess the deal with Thor is now closed and they are running the show now.

I heard they fired him, but so far no official word.

[booster]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Anyone else heard this rumor? They up and cancelled a bunch of marketing events for 2019 as well last week.

I guess the deal with Thor is now closed and they are running the show now.

I heard they fired him, but so far no official word.

Certainly not surprising. The surprising part is that he made it through the previous two acquisitions.

[rockymtnb]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

I guess the deal with Thor is now closed and they are running the show now.

I believe the acquisition by Thor is not yet complete.

According to RV Business they are still operating legally as Erwin Hymer Group North America Inc. And StreetInsider.com lists the the deal as still pending, although Thor's board has already approved the acquisition, so presumably it is still awaiting regulatory and legal resolution.

Jim Hammill did post a statement on the Erwin Hymer website that he would still be in charge post acquisition:

https://www.gohymer.com/acquisition-...or-industries/

I guess we'll see how that really holds up under Thor.

[mumkin]

That is an old post from the Hymer site...

[ContinuousImprovement]

following this thread

[B-RV]

I also heard he was let go. Proof is at the Tampa Super show. No Jim.

[ContinuousImprovement]

Canadian TV news reports Jim was let go. Sadly his leadership resulted in many employees losing their jobs too. They also reported that the Thor purchase was not yet finalized. Let's hope that great deal didn't fall through.
https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/mobile/...urer-1.4256400

[booster]

Looks like there is also a big layoff going on, even though the deal isn't closed yet.


https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/mobile/...k66PimLBzIY5Es


A Chevy Roadtrek group on Facebook also is saying Hammill is gone.


Got beat by one minute!

[mumkin]

Synchronized posting...

[ContinuousImprovement]

Mr. Jim Hammill is named in the referenced Attorney General evidence file. His departure doesn't change the status of owner complaint filings, attorney general investigations or the legislative proposals. You should file if you have a Roadtrek, Hymer or Carado with the Microgreen Inverter/Charger and haven't already filed a complaint with your Attorney General.
https://sites.google.com/view/suiet-...na?authuser=23

[Bud]

We only know some of Watt(s) happening.

Bud

[booster]

The fact that the acquisition is not finalized may have something to do with the layoffs, probably combined with bad planning by overhiring recently.


I would expect the pre acquisition due diligence would have had lots of financial information related to all parts of the business, and if those turn out to be inaccurate for any number of reasons, it will through off all the calculations of how much the deal is worth, etc.


Too much overhead compared to sales would certainly change the whole picture if it was different than planned, so it may have become very necessary to make large and fast cuts to expenditures to get back into the range of the original agreement. If the problem was caused by bad planning by Jim Hammill, or if he resisted, I think Hymer would quickly sacrifice him and all the new hire, events, etc to save the deal.

[GeorgeRa]

I believe that their small trailer - Eriba should have hit NA market big wave but it seems as it is rather a slow intro. Layoffs could be related to the Eriba trailer business or perhaps Thor is not interested in another trailer for NA. https://www.hymer.com/en/company/pre...ean-drive.html

[rockymtnb]

In the layoff notification letter ERwin Hymer blames their "drop in sales" as resulting from a "recent economic downturn".

However that doesn't match recent Class B sales data as tallied by Statistical Surveys Inc for the RV industry. SSI reports that Class B sales registrations for 2018 thru November, the most recent available, are up 28% over 2017 (and 2017 itself had been up another 28.4% over 2016).

Winnebago has been getting the lion's share of Class B sales at 40%, just slightly more than the combination of Erwin Hymer/Roadtrek (29.1%) and Thor Industries (10.8%). And all the custom outfitters such as ARV, Outside Van, Sportsmobile, etc., appear to be solidly booked out 12-16 months.

Any sales shortfall at Erwin Hymer/Roadtrek appears to be entirely self-inflicted, not the result of any Class B industry or economic downturn.

[Keyne]

I was surprised as well regarding the economic downturn explanation for a layoff. Most likely the downturn is coming... at least in the US, July will be the longest in history between recessions. However, if the ongoing list of new van upfitter shops is any indication (and the long wait times) the vanlife business is booming.

As a RT owner I wasn't happy with the Thor announcement but they did mention they will honor the warranty but we shall see. I know there are mixed reviews of Jim H, but I think its sad when a family run business gets acquired. Also, sad to see people lose their jobs. Change is always constant and time will tell if this is ultimately good news or bad for Roadtrek products and owners.

[Woodpaddler]

We were at the Roadtrek factory in September. They said they wish they could find more work to add another shift, had back orders going back 8 months.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Woodpaddler

We were at the Roadtrek factory in September. They said they wish they could find more work to add another shift, had back orders going back 8 months.

More work, or more workers?

[<<B-Guy>>]

Originally Posted by Woodpaddler

We were at the Roadtrek factory in September. They said they wish they could find more work to add another shift, had back orders going back 8 months.

Not sure I understand? Doesn't that mean they have plenty of work for all their employees - and then some?

Be interesting when we get to know exactly what is going on at RT and with JH !

I really would have liked to buy a RT as we live very near the factory - would have been convenient for any warranty work. And I REALLY liked there full 6 yr
warranty compared to teh non-transferable PW partial warrantee.

But in the end, the PW's reputed quality, and their design features won us over - still hoping we chose wisely! Love our '19 Plateau FL so far.

Brian.

[Dieps]

Mike Wendland just reported the Roadtrek top management including Jim Hammil and C.O.O. Howard Stratton are gone along with a number of other layoffs. Apparently, Thor feels changes need to be made. Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me. I spent my career with large companies and went through a fair number of acquisitions. It’s rare that major changes aren’t made.

[gregmchugh]

Mike Wendland also stated that this was all an Erwin Hymer action. The Thor acquisition has not been completed but it is likely, of course, that the action was needed as part of the acquisition process.