Airxcel makes 203 permanent "layoffs"

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afchap

afchap

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Airexcel is the RVP Coleman manufacturer in Andover KS ? this could have a big effect on parts and new units.

"Airxcel Inc. has filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act 60-day layoff notices with the state of Kansas affecting its local RV Products division.  According to documents, those actions include 203 permanent layoffs at its facilities at 3050 N. St. Francis. "

http://www.kake.com/story/42027610/wichita-manufacturer-laying-off-200-workers
 
Clearly a case where a business won't be able to recover from the Covid shutdown.  All signs are that the RV industry (and probably the entire vehicle industry) will be in a prolonged recession, so no point in a short term re-opening that will merely lead to more layoffs. Gonna be a lot of those, I think. I know of some small businesses here in Florida that have already stated they will not try to re-open.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Clearly a case where a business won't be able to recover from the Covid shutdown.  All signs are that the RV industry (and probably the entire vehicle industry) will be in a prolonged recession, so no point in a short term re-opening that will merely lead to more layoffs. Gonna be a lot of those, I think. I know of some small businesses here in Florida that have already stated they will not try to re-open.
Click to expand...

Confusion here - I read articles like this that completely agree with Gary's comments.  Then I read that says no one will want to fly again (or stay in a hotel) but they will want to travel so RVing will have great sales later in the year.  Also, other articles claim that health care providers are buying RV's like crazy to quarantine. 

To add to the confusion, the major stocks like Thor, Winnebago and Camping World are about half of what they were a few months ago.

What is going on??
 
The permanent layoff notice is a legal requirement based on how long a company expects reduced staffing to last. It does not mean the company is closing, though the owner is certainly concerned. I worked in a cyclic industry that did this every 5-7 years. The worst was after 9/11 fully 1/3 of the company was laid off world wide, and the company returned to profitability and has greatly increased in employees and revue/profit. In this case there is another group of >100 people that are on temporary furlough and therefore anticipates being recalled. I am not saying this entire thing is not going to be ugly in the near term, but a lay-off notice is not a deathnell. I think the uncertainty itself is dragging the entire market. RVs and boats are luxury items, not needed for existence. How deep will the recession go? How long will it last? Will RV travel be so desirable due to less contagion that everybody wants one, or will it be dragged down to a poor economy? Anyone who says they really knows is dreaming; there isn?t enough data yet.
 
Predictions can be so wrong. After WWII everyone seemed to think there would be a large boom in airplane sales because of all the folks who learned to fly, and otherwise got introduced to aviation, during the war. That prediction flopped. So have many others, though there are times when a prediction might be correct, or partially so.

So, as Pam says, "Anyone who says they really knows is dreaming; there isn?t enough data yet."
 
Good analysis from UTTtransplant.

Take any prediction you see in the media with several grains of salt. There isn't a lot of balance in most articles and opinion pieces based on flimsy very data masquerade as news.  The standards of reporting have degraded badly in the rush to get instant and sensational news out the door; news as mass entertainment rather than factual information.


Consider this likely scenario: A reporter calls a local RV dealer and asks how business is going. The dealer says I sold 3 RVs this month and they were all to nurses or doctors needing a place to live.  BINGO! The instant news story is that medical professionals are "flocking" to buy RVs. Maybe they are, but maybe it's an isolated or localized thing.  Very likely there is a bump in such sales near larger cities with major hospitals or medical labs, but is that a nationwide phenomena?  And if a few hundred medical people buy trailers, is that going to make a difference in the statistics when monthly sales in February were over 36,000 units?

In any case, the March RV shipment info should be available from the RVIA any day now. The true measure, though, will be whether the RV manufacturers re-open their plants for production. The fact that a huge RV supplier like Airxcel thinks demand will drop substantially is a clear signal, I think. Airxcel RV-related brands include Coleman Mach, Suburban, Dicor, MaxxAir, MCD Shades, AquaHot, and Vixen Composites (sidewalls, etc).
 
https://www.rvia.org/news-insights/rv-shipments-march-2020

819 Class A's shipped in March. 

I cant believe how few people go the Class A route vs. tow behind.  Both are great but Class A seems to just keep losing share to TT's.  I mean even with the country in such a bad state they STILL shipped over 21,000 TT's!
 
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