Off Topic: Sunline goes out of business

[jawilson]

The maker of perhaps the most solid trailers in the business shuts down for good. Sad but true... :%

Story 1
Story 2

[AustinBoston]

It would not be off topic in the Campfire forum.

This is is sad news.  I wonder if the "potential buyer" was Fleetwood RV (also in PA).

As of this evening, their website is still running: Sunline RV

Austin

[CampDirt]

They look like pretty decent trailers, especially like the ultra light ones.  It's such a shame when a long admired company goes out of business due to lack of funds.  :%

By the way, there's another Denver? Outside CO?  Wow, got to go visit the one in PA sometime in the future...

[tlhdoc]

By the way, there's another Denver? Outside CO? Wow, got to go visit the one in PA sometime in the future...

If you do let me know.  We can meet for dinner.

[flyfisherman]

A friend just bought their little "Que" model and I had a chance to look it over a couple of months ago. I thought it was a very well put together little rig. And everything was going great for dealer and factory service . I think something had to be altered and it was the factory that recalled it, with my friend not knowing anything was amiss.

This is sad news, when you have a well built rig and a company that stands right behind it and that company has to go by the way side.



Fly

[SkipP]

By the way, there's another Denver? Outside CO? Wow, got to go visit the one in PA sometime in the future...

There's even a Denver, NC!

[Monterey]

Too bad I'm short of cash and not ready to move to the darkside just yet.  I'll bet I could have gotten a GREAT deal at the public selloff.  

Still, it's sad.  We pass thier plant when we head out to camp.  They also had a very informative show on the plant on PCN. (Pennsylvania Cable Network..sort of like C-Span for PA).  They did a full plant tour and followed a trailer being built from start to finish.  Just from watching that you could see they were very well made.

[wavery]

Fuel prices have put a tremendous amount of pressure on the RV industry. It's not real surprising that some manufacturers would be in financial difficulty.

Common sense may tell us that the PU market should be better off than the TT and motorhome builders. You would think that buyers would naturally scale down their expectations to save fuel instead of dropping out of camping all together. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

I think what we may seeing is that the young families are opting out of the "Starter" camper that saves fuel so that they can make their unbelievable house payments. It's a shame really. I think that the average age of the RVer is increasing expotentially. It seems that it is less a young family activity and more of a retirement activity.

Those that are retiring and going camping are looking at PUs less & less as the "Ugly American" gets heavier and less energetic. Let's face it. It takes more agility to set-up a PU than it does a motorhome.

I think the bottom line is that they did the market research and faced the facts. The market for PUs is shrinking at a faster rate than the larger campers.

[beacher]

Story 2 mentioned that an equity company had stepped in two years ago.  Apparently, they had knowledge for OVER two years of their financial situation.

With that much time available it looks like executive management decisions may have been the ultimate reason for the shutdown.  With 40 years in the business, they could have done many things to stay in business, if they chose to.  They would have needed  some very rapid radical changes, many of which were likely not acceptable, (or foreign concepts), to the current management personnel.

At the very least, they could have sold, (at a significant "unacceptable" loss), to a competitor.

I have been involved with the shutdown, aquisition, and merging of several aerospace and metals manufacturing companies during my career.  When they actually shut down, it's ultimately always someone's conscious decision, not an "accident", and certainly known by the few decision makers at the top.

[AustinBoston]

Fuel prices have put a tremendous amount of pressure on the RV industry. It's not real surprising that some manufacturers would be in financial difficulty.

Common sense may tell us that the PU market should be better off than the TT and motorhome builders. You would think that buyers would naturally scale down their expectations to save fuel instead of dropping out of camping all together. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Sunline did not make pop-ups.

I think what we may seeing is that the young families are opting out of the "Starter" camper that saves fuel so that they can make their unbelievable house payments. It's a shame really. I think that the average age of the RVer is increasing expotentially. It seems that it is less a young family activity and more of a retirement activity.

There are a number of factors in the slowing of the RV industry, and in the pop-up market.  

First, it's a long-term trend.  The number of pop-ups sold has gone down nearly every year since the early 80's.  

Second, people in general are not "getting back to nature" as much.  More and more, people are reacting negatively to environmentalist extremists, and projecting that on to everyone who loves the outdoors...and don't want to be one of them.

Third, it's harder and harder to find an affordable vehicle to tow a pop-up.  We towed with a 2-door in 1970.  try that today with any pop-up not made for a motorcycle!

Fourth, try to find a pop-up light enough to tow with an affordable tow vehicle.  Fleetwood's lightest pop-up has gained an average of a hundred pounds per year for each of the past six years.

Fifth, I think there is some rebound going on.  A lot of people who might have bought now did so in the 2-3 years after September 11, deciding to "do it now" rather than waiting for the finances to be perfect.

Sixth, prices are getting out of hand.  If you buy a new pop-up and a new tow vehicle to go with it, you can easily spend $50,000 without going to the top of the line for either.  $50,000 for a pop-up?!?!  There are new Class C's for less!  I know they can be had for less, but the combined cost of our tow vehicle and pop-up was over $35,000 six years ago.

Those that are retiring and going camping are looking at PUs less & less as the "Ugly American" gets heavier and less energetic. Let's face it. It takes more agility to set-up a PU than it does a motorhome.

I think that is also a factor, but it is more a marketing/public education issue than a real one.  I'm a fat sob in person, and I have no trouble setting up or taking down our pop-up alone.

I think the bottom line is that they did the market research and faced the facts. The market for PUs is shrinking at a faster rate than the larger campers.

Sunline didn't make a choice based on market conditions; they are simply bankrupt.  The article hints there might have been some shady dealings going on, as the announcement was so abrupt.

Austin