Thor has officially bought Hymer

[gerrym51]

Thor is officially buying hymer

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...ros-2018-09-18

[booster]

So what are the betting odds on Hammill surviving this acquisition?


He has somehow managed it twice already, for some unexplained reason.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by booster

So what are the betting odds on Hammill surviving this acquisition?


He has somehow managed it twice already, for some unexplained reason.

Thor 'modus operanidi' is to get rid of top layer.

However Roadtrek is a miniscule portion of Hymer. It will 'probably' be given to airstream which makes a B already to decide what to do with it.

The bigger question is what happens to ecotrek battery supply.which would be my biggest concern if i was owner of a Roadtrek with ecotreks

[booster]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

Thor 'modus operanidi' is to get rid of top layer.

However Roadtrek is a miniscule portion of Hymer. It will 'probably' be given to airstream which makes a B already to decide what to do with it.

The bigger question is what happens to ecotrek battery supply.which would be my biggest concern if i was owner of a Roadtrek with ecotreks

Probably all true, and the ecotrek thing is a good point. I can't imagine that Thor is so clueless that they think it is a good, or even adequate, product, so the smart money would probably be that it will either be heavily redesigned or replaced. Their due diligence would certainly have gotten warranty cost information on the various products, and it must be a huge amount for ecotrek.



If Roadtrek goes to Airstream, but trailers go elsewhere, it would make even more questions about what happens to the Canada factories.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by booster

Probably all true, and the ecotrek thing is a good point. I can't imagine that Thor is so clueless that they think it is a good, or even adequate, product, so the smart money would probably be that it will either be heavily redesigned or replaced. Their due diligence would certainly have gotten warranty cost information on the various products, and it must be a huge amount for ecotrek.



If Roadtrek goes to Airstream, but trailers go elsewhere, it would make even more questions about what happens to the Canada factories.

Roadtrek is still most of erwinhymerna. I doubt they would use their trailers. Thor has several trailer makers with mini lite trailers already in the market.


However since i was thrown off the main roadtrekkers facebook page i have no real clue as to what is going on. I think Greg Mchugh who is sill allowed on it could answer

[MobileCabin]

Maybe Thor will move their class B production to Canada. Then that space would be free at the AS facility to expand into the Hymer trailers.

I suspect our next class B will be from an Advance RV type upfitter.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by MobileCabin

Maybe Thor will move their class B production to Canada. Then that space would be free at the AS facility to expand into the Hymer trailers.

I suspect our next class B will be from an Advance RV type upfitter.

the fate of the ecotrek battery is still the biggest issue

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

the fate of the ecotrek battery is still the biggest issue

Does everyone have issues with their EcoTrek's? We haven't but our van is just 2-years old (2017) or is it more a concern for support down the road?

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by ponti33602

Does everyone have issues with their EcoTrek's? We haven't but our van is just 2-years old (2017) or is it more a concern for support down the road?

your ecotreks won't last forever(probably). a roadtrek only accepts ecotreks. it would cost you money to change the system.

Roadtrek contracts out their manufacture to their specifications you just can't put on any lithium battery

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

your ecotreks won't last forever(probably). a roadtrek only accepts ecotreks. it would cost you money to change the system.

Roadtrek contracts out their manufacture to their specifications you just can't put on any lithium battery

So you saying it isn't like a car where I buy an OEM lithium and flip it myself?

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by ponti33602

So you saying it isn't like a car where I buy an OEM lithium and flip it myself?

correct-you can only get an ecotrek battery directly from roadtrek that contracts out the manufacture. If roadtrek stops ecotrek manufacture for whatever reason you would have to find a similiar battery and attempt to get someone to figure out how to attach.

think this way. Roadtrek is a computer that can only use ONE kind of printer. Ecotreks are the printer.

the computer(roadtrek) is designed to accept only one type of printer(lithium battery ecotrek).

You could pay out and hire someone to change the computer part or the battery part. either way it's bucks out of your pocket. Switching to AGM's is much easier as they don't require bms control. However then you lose the reason you bought ecotrek in first place. Big battery power to run AC. AGM batterys are twice as heavy and can't have as much power taken from them

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

correct-you can only get an ecotrek battery directly from roadtrek that contracts out the manufacture. If roadtrek stops ecotrek manufacture for whatever reason you would have to find a similiar battery and attempt to get someone to figure out how to attach.

think this way. Roadtrek is a computer that can only use ONE kind of printer. Ecotreks are the printer.

the computer(roadtrek) is designed to accept only one type of printer(lithium battery ecotrek).

You could pay out and hire someone to change the computer part or the battery part. either way it's bucks out of your pocket. Switching to AGM's is much easier as they don't require bms control. However then you lose the reason you bought ecotrek in first place. Big battery power to run AC. AGM batterys are twice as heavy and have as much power taken from them

Thx for the explanation.....I would have never suspected that.........

[gerrym51]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Industries

[mlts22]

I wonder how Thor will handle this purchase. Unlike other types of RVs where shoddy quality is pretty much expected, class "B"s are one of the few RV types that actually hold their value, and where I see ten year old T1N Sprinter "B"s from RT and Pleasure Way going for their MSRP. If Thor goes cheap on the construction of "B"s, people will move to other vendors in a heartbeat, because there are not many "B" vendors, and class "B"s are the most expensive RV type out there, next to the DPs.

Maybe there is hope. Forest River did a good job with the Coachmen Crossfit, so maybe Thor might be able to put something out there that can compete in the Travato, or even the Sunlight V2 markets that would be acceptable.

I can see Thor tossing the Hymer-US moniker (and the Carado name as well), putting the high end units under the Airstream name, and keeping Roadtrek for the Express/Transit/ProMaster based models. That, or having Airstream become trailer only, and Roadtrek be the "B" brand.

[gerrym51]

Airstream Interstate is Thors only class b


https://www.airstream.com/touring-co...rand-tour-ext/



they have 5 highend models. all Sprinters all have generators.

[Mfturner]

My wife saw a funny comment on another thread to the effect of: When does Thor merge with Camping World for total domination?

[Bud]

Wondering, is this a never ending thread, maybe 100+ pages?

Bud

[booster]

Originally Posted by Bud

Wondering, is this a never ending thread, maybe 100+ pages?

Bud

Depends on how many more times Roadtrek changes hands.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mlts22

I wonder how Thor will handle this purchase. Unlike other types of RVs where shoddy quality is pretty much expected, class "B"s are one of the few RV types that actually hold their value, and where I see ten year old T1N Sprinter "B"s from RT and Pleasure Way going for their MSRP. If Thor goes cheap on the construction of "B"s, people will move to other vendors in a heartbeat, because there are not many "B" vendors, and class "B"s are the most expensive RV type out there, next to the DPs.

Maybe there is hope. Forest River did a good job with the Coachmen Crossfit, so maybe Thor might be able to put something out there that can compete in the Travato, or even the Sunlight V2 markets that would be acceptable.

I can see Thor tossing the Hymer-US moniker (and the Carado name as well), putting the high end units under the Airstream name, and keeping Roadtrek for the Express/Transit/ProMaster based models. That, or having Airstream become trailer only, and Roadtrek be the "B" brand.

Well, we have some data on this point, in the form of Thor's management of the Airstream Interstate. What they do in that case is lavish the models with good design, quality materials, and average-to-above-average systems. Then they top it all off with amazingly crappy initial build quality. I don't know if this is a deliberate strategy to economize on labor costs, or if the managers of the Interstate production facility simply don't know how to run a modern production line.

The good news is that most of the stuff they screw up can be fixed by an industrious DIY owner, as I can attest by personal experience. You can end up with a very nice rig. Not a cheap one, though.

[gerrym51]

thor conference call on purchase of Hymer



https://seekingalpha.com/article/420...onference-call