So where are all the buyers for Roadtrek?

[Bud]

"how they handled the debt load"

[rockymtnb]

Sounds rather similar to the Westfalia GmbH bankruptcy story. Westfalia had been purchased by Daimler-Chrysler to promote campervan sales on the Sprinter platform (including the James Cook model imported to the US under Airstream co-branding).

Westfalia lost market share as Daimler-Chrysler endured its painful split-up and fell into bankruptcy in late 2009. Rapido bought out Westy, hired back about half the employees, and slowly rebuilt it into an apparently successful European brand.

Rapido does have their own branded campervans but most of their Class B sales appear to be under the revitalized Westfalia brand.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by rockymtnb

Sounds rather similar to the Westfalia GmbH bankruptcy story. Westfalia had been purchased by Daimler-Chrysler to promote campervan sales on the Sprinter platform (including the James Cook model imported to the US under Airstream co-branding).

Westfalia lost market share as Daimler-Chrysler endured its painful split-up and fell into bankruptcy in late 2009. Rapido bought out Westy, hired back about half the employees, and slowly rebuilt it into an apparently successful European brand.

Rapido does have their own branded campervans but most of their Class B sales appear to be under the revitalized Westfalia brand.

Oooh...
Do you think we might get the James Cook back in the US again?
That would be good.

[rockymtnb]

Originally Posted by avanti

Oooh... Do you think we might get the James Cook back in the US again?
That would be good.

Doesn't look like Westfalia builds the James Cook anymore. In fact they don't seem to offer any Sprinter based models now, having switched their Sven Hedin model to the new VW Crafter chassis of similar size (which is no longer just a rebranded Sprinter).

The similarly bulbous topped Club Joker model is still available on the smaller VW T6 chassis, and does still share a bit of that James Cook vibe.

Looking at recent UK dealer listings it appears that most Westfalia sales these days are on the Ducato (Promaster) and smaller VW T6 chassis.

https://www.westfalia-mobil.com/en/

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by rockymtnb

Doesn't look like Westfalia builds the James Cook anymore. In fact they don't seem to offer any Sprinter based models now, having switched their Sven Hedin model to the new VW Crafter chassis of similar size (which is no longer just a rebranded Sprinter).

The similarly bulbous topped Club Joker model is still available on the smaller VW T6 chassis, and does still share a bit of that James Cook vibe.

Looking at recent UK dealer listings it appears that most Westfalia sales these days are on the Ducato (Promaster) and smaller VW T6 chassis.

https://www.westfalia-mobil.com/en/

They are also doing the Metris so that could be something for North America...

[gregmchugh]

Where is the OP, Mr Wincrasher?

Time for a meal of crow. Would you like it fried, baked, rotisserie??

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by booster

Very interesting and someone who nobody had even mentioned, at least that I heard. Looks like a good sized company, family run so we will probably never know the details of the deal or how they handled the debt load.

I don't expect that our warranties will re-appear, especially as there has been no mention of them anywhere in any of the Receivership paperwork.

The article says that "they are acquiring... the assets" so I interpret that to mean that they are acquiring none of the liabilities. That would be the usual in this sort of situation. Whatever cash they are paying for Roadtrek will be paid first to secured creditors and if there is anything left after that, someone decides the winners and losers on the rest of the list.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

They are also doing the Metris so that could be something for North America...

Except that there are already about a half dozen or more smaller companies all doing about the same conversion on the Metris with a pop top.

[rockymtnb]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Except that there are already about a half dozen or more smaller companies all doing about the same conversion on the Metris with a pop top.

Actually I don't think there are any other stateside Metris conversions that provide a toilet and shower like the Westfalia Jules Verne. It appears to be a pretty unique configuration made possible by the reverse opening pop-top roof.

And many of the most popular US Metris campervans (Sportsmobile and Tourig for example) are simply stateside installations of the German Terracamper conversion kit. Nothing inherently wrong with that but their modular kit nature constrains interior space utilization and results in compromises such as the tiny 23 liter fridge.

Getting a shower, toilet, water and space heaters, galley and stove, 51 liter fridge, 50 liter freshwater tank and graywater tank all into a garageable Metris campervan seems quite an accomplishment in comparison.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

Where is the OP, Mr Wincrasher?

Time for a meal of crow. Would you like it fried, baked, rotisserie??

Don't count your crows before they are hatched. The only thing we know is they bought was the trademarked name, Roadtrek and undefined "assets" and eventually projected 200 employees.

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Don't count your crows before they are hatched. The only thing we know is they bought was the trademarked name, Roadtrek and undefined "assets" and eventually projected 200 employees.

True, they could have plans to build Westfalia’s instead of Roadtrek’s or whatever but there was no liquidation as predicted by Wincrasher so I think a meal of crow is called for in this case...

I think the outcome is positive in any case since there will be continued employment for some of the workers. Hopefully the new owners will have a better strategy for long term success than Hymer Group. Competition is always good and they may bring out something that is not just another same old same old design, plenty of those out there already in the market here.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by rockymtnb

Actually I don't think there are any other stateside Metris conversions that provide a toilet and shower like the Westfalia Jules Verne. It appears to be a pretty unique configuration made possible by the reverse opening pop-top roof.

Getting a shower, toilet, water and space heaters, galley and stove, 51 liter fridge, 50 liter freshwater tank and graywater tank all into a garageable Metris campervan seems quite an accomplishment in comparison.

Must agree with that one.

That is a lot to get inside a "midi-van." I'd quite like to see one of those in person.

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Don't count your crows before they are hatched. The only thing we know is they bought was the trademarked name, Roadtrek and undefined "assets" and eventually projected 200 employees.

They have stated they intend to continue the Roadtrek brand...


https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/europea...HPhs6vuCkTUWZs

[gregmchugh]

A interesting question will be whether they continue with the Ecotrek battery system or not? My feeling is that it would be a mistake to continue with it and they should find a good partner with real experience in the technology just as Winnebago has done with Volta.

[Davydd]

Brand is a name, Roadtrek. Roadtrek models have been Chevys and Sprinters. They have no experience in Chevys and may consider them an obsolete or dying van profile as most other north American companies have. They seem to have abandoned the Sprinter in the European market so the jury is out if they want to build on it. They just may introduce totally new designs under the Roadtrek brand. Airstream did that with the Westfalia in 2005. Maybe they will re-introduce that kind of profile. It would be a mistake I think to revive the Ecotrek lithium system and that was the only thing totally different than the other companies. There are better and more simplified lithium systems in the market to adapt and they don't appear to have any native expertise.

What they have to do to protect that Roadtrek brand is to first deal with the legacy Roadtrek customers. How they handle that is critical because the brand could suffer if they don't.

To be successful they probably have to introduce a new lineup. Europe's expertise seems to be more family oriented than America's senior retired and empty nesters. Families and active younger #vanlife people have spawned the growing portion of the Class B market. Seniors have proven to be a tapped out market. That Airstream Westfalia James Cook model was ahead of its time in sleeping four better than the awkward Roadtrek Sprinter models. They also have expertise in poptop models.

[booster]

I think it will be very interesting to see how they choose to address the NA market.


Will they dump the "American model" of big vans, open interiors, black tanks and macerators, etc and concentrate on catering to the more Euro design loving public here with cassettes, smaller vans, less open, etc? Perhaps a combination of both styles? I think the the combination would be our choice as we like the black tank and macerator and rear bed area, but like a smaller size van that utilizes space better and doesn't get huge just to haul around air. Not much interest in the small, uncomfortable seating behind the driver, especially for just two people.


I am looking forward to seeing what they do.

[avanti]

All I am hoping for is a van designed by an engineer instead of a carpenter.

Watching their strategy roll out will indeed be interesting. But, we need to be careful not to draw conclusions from their first moves. They no doubt inherited significant inventory as well as employees with an existing skill set. I suspect they will decide to purge the pipeline by building some traditional Roadtreks, including electrics.

[GeorgeRa]

Rapido has 2 key advantages over Hymer:

1. A good lesson can be extracted from Hymer’s mistakes
2. It seems as the third generation from the founder still has passion for this business, Hymer folks didn’t. “In 2014, Pierre Rousseau’s son Nicolas joined the company and took over the management of sales and marketing. Passion for this product has been kindled in a third generation.”

Family camper vans is dormant in NA, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be reborn, Rapido folks could do it. Price, fit and finish, modern décor for young folks will likely by more critical than a type of battery. There are share platforms like MB, Fiat, Ford or Nissan between NA and EU to have direct leverage in design, unfortunately VW is not.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by avanti

All I am hoping for is a van designed by an engineer instead of a carpenter……………………...

…..with a stapler.

[gregmchugh]

My view is that they should retarget the Roadtrek brand for the younger family demographic rather than trying to compete head on with all the other companies who are continuing to sell mostly to the older demographic. Maybe use the Westfalia brand and designs along with it to capture the buyer who owned a Westfalia before and wants a modern version of it.