Thor buys Tiffin

[Gaucho]

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...s-in-300m-deal

[Rocinante]

Oh, no! Now I'm sad.

OTOH, the value of used Tiffin units will likely increase significantly, because new ones built under Thor's ownership... Well, I'll let someone else buy one of those.

[Jon in AZ]

Bites the Dust.jpg



In truth I'm sure they will still be nice motorhomes, and the decline in quality will be more of slide than a precipice.

I have no particular attachment to Tiffin- they are so not my style and way out of my league- but I'm saddened by consolidation in any industry, not just RVs. Livin' Lite was a another distinctive small RV brand, far more to my taste, but now lost through consolidation.

The deck is stacked against small businesses. It's often easier to fold into a big corporation and let them assume the liability burden and regulatory headaches. And I better stop there before this gets political...

P.S. I only associated Tiffin with large Class A's, but I now see they offer one model on a Sprinter cutaway chassis. Brownie points for calling it a Class C on their website. Wonder what Thor will call it?...

[wny-pat]

Crying Shame. Tiffin built a good product and backed it up to boot!! They had new old stock product in their warehouse that dated back over 20 years.

[rockymtnb]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I have no particular attachment to Tiffin- they are so not my style and way out of my league- but I'm saddened by consolidation in any industry, not just RVs.

The deck is stacked against small businesses. It's often easier to fold into a big corporation and let them assume the liability burden and regulatory headaches...

Interestingly, small Class B upfitters such as Advanced RV, Tourig, VanDOit, Modvans, Overland Storyteller, GTRV etc. have been an oasis of innovation and entrepreneurship while the rest of the RV industry undergoes wholesale consolidation.

I don't know how many will survive the long term, but it's nice that Class B enjoys such individualism for now.

[Gaucho]

Since motorhomes aren’t like producing and selling widgets, I think there will always be a space for more niche and custom builders *. Just like there are large home builders who erect McMansions, there continues to be demand for custom homes designed by smaller architectural firms and built by local contractors. The industry needs smaller companies that push the innovation boundaries while exerting market forces on assembly line builders. We need smaller builders to keep the bigger ones honest.


* Assuming Big RV doesn’t lobby and seek increased regulation to push out smaller builders who can’t afford regulatory costs.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by rockymtnb

Interestingly, small Class B upfitters such as Advanced RV, Tourig, VanDOit, Modvans, Overland Storyteller, GTRV etc. have been an oasis of innovation and entrepreneurship while the rest of the RV industry undergoes wholesale consolidation.

I don't know how many will survive the long term, but it's nice that Class B enjoys such individualism for now.

Interesting observation. My other RV also belongs to a niche market- molded fiberglass travel trailers- dominated by independent manufacturers, ranging from larger, well-established operations- Scamp, Casita, and Escape- to smaller operations like Oliver, Bigfoot, Happier Camper, Armadillo, GoBE, Outback, and others.

One thing Class B's and molded fiberglass trailers have in common is they are hard to scale up. Both are built from the outside in and require a fair bit of hand fitting by a skilled workforce. I would guess Tiffin has an experienced, skilled production team, but over time, corporate bean counters will put the squeeze on to replace them with lower-wage, less skilled replacements.