Thor Buys Tiffin December 21, 2020, 11:05:46 am Not good news for niche RV manufacturers.THOR Buys Tiffin Motorhomes: What Happens Now? - Camper ReportChris
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #1 – December 21, 2020, 11:23:32 am Tiffins vintage 2020 and earlier just went up in value. . . 6 Likes
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #2 – December 21, 2020, 11:34:30 am I have to wonder when monopoly laws kick in. Seems like Thor is intent on owning the entire RV industry."In the United States, antitrust law is a collection of federal and state government laws that regulate the conduct and organization of business corporations and are generally intended to promote competition for the benefit of consumers. The main statutes are the Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914 and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. These Acts serve three major functions. First, Section 1 of the Sherman Act prohibits price-fixing and the operation of cartels, and prohibits other collusive practices that unreasonably restrain trade. Second, Section 7 of the Clayton Act restricts the mergers and acquisitions of organizations that would likely substantially lessen competition. Third, Section 2 of the Sherman Act prohibits the abuse of monopoly power.[2]United States antitrust law - Wikipedia 2 Likes
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #3 – December 21, 2020, 02:12:58 pm Quote from: Sawyer - December 21, 2020, 11:34:30 amI have to wonder when monopoly laws kick in. Seems like Thor is intent on owning the entire RV industry.You’d have to do a market analysis to determine whether the law should be applied. Mergers are generally covered by the Clayton Act. The key question is whether the merger will adversely affect competition in a relevant market. The first step in that analysis is to define the relevant market. Is it all recreational vehicles, just motor homes (no trailers), or a more narrowly defined sub market of luxury diesel pushers? What will be the market share of the market participants after the merger, and is that likely to facilitate anti-competitive behavior such as price fixing or conscious parallelism or agreed division of market territories? What are the barriers to entry of a new company in the relative market? As you might imagine, there are economics “experts” that can be bought to support all sides of these issues. Antitrust cases, be they questions of monopoly or other theories, are extremely difficult to put together and to win. — Jon 4 Likes
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #4 – December 21, 2020, 06:12:12 pm Too bad about Tiffin, My first RV was made by Tiffin. It was an Allegro Class C (not made anymore) and it served me well for a number of years. I will always remember the personalized care I received when a curtain broke after a couple of years. When I called to get a replacement, the owner answered the phone and said that it should not have broken and sent me out an entire curtain assembly free of charge!............................ The owner even apologized for any inconvenience that it caused me! I almost bought another Tiffin before I saw my first Lazy Daze!Merry Christmas to all,Gary 1 Likes
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #6 – December 21, 2020, 09:37:58 pm Quote from: Chris Horst - December 21, 2020, 11:05:46 amNot good news for niche RV manufacturers.THOR Buys Tiffin Motorhomes: What Happens Now? - Camper ReportChrisI worry about that happening to LD. Not sure how many owners own LD. I believe it is the one brother that is left that is the owner now but not sure.
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #7 – December 22, 2020, 12:05:54 am Quote from: AngieMac - December 21, 2020, 09:37:58 pmI worry about that happening to LD. Not sure how many owners own LD. I believe it is the one brother that is left that is the owner now but not sure. The owner is now Steve Newton, son of Ed Newton, who with his brother Paul Newton owned and ran Lazy Daze for many years.Chris 1 Likes
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #8 – December 22, 2020, 12:27:24 am Quote from: AngieMac - December 21, 2020, 09:37:58 pmI worry about that happening to LD. Not sure how many owners own LD. I believe it is the one brother that is left that is the owner now but not sure.As Chris stated, LD is owned by Ed, son of Ed. LD is a one-man show, when Steve hangs it up, for whatever reason, that will most likely be the end of it. This is a long-discussed topic of speculation in the Caravan Club. With no heir apparent, all that could be sold is the name and property. LD construction is old-school and very time consumptive. Any buyer would probably want to re-engineer the coach, to speed construction. There is a market for high-end Class Cs, who knows what the future will bring?Get them now while you can, no telling how long they will be available.Larry 4 Likes
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #9 – December 22, 2020, 10:16:18 am BTW being a monopoly or large size is not against the law in the USA. What is against the law is using your size or monopoly to harm the consumers or competitors. The debate about this will go on for as long as there is humans on the face of this earth.......glen
Re: Thor Buys Tiffin Reply #10 – December 22, 2020, 12:16:16 pm If I wasn’t 3x as old as my new old LD, I’d order one now before IT happens.