Why so many Brands/Models?

[Hokiehall]

Originally Posted by miatared

I have worked with dealer management systems for a decade or so - these are accounting/inventory systems for auto, motorcycle, motorsport and rv dealerships.

In general, RV manufacturers are still in the dark ages - most, if not all manufacturers have not adopted modern technology. The few that have have been very slow at best. It is still very much a Model-T type of assembly line. They have not widely adopted microfiche for part, let alone computerized lookup and exploded assembly views. Look at FR's web sites: there is not 1 phone number, address or contact me button - this is VERY early 20th century thinking.

Most of this stuff is only sold in North America, where gas is still very cheap and vehicles sold can pull them. The rest of the planet is not going to embrace RVing as we know anytime soon, probably never. There will never be a global market for RVs - well, in my humble opinion.

The car dealership multi-brand model has served the RV biz well. But the new GM, Ford and Chrysler have been forced to change - it no longer worked with the global economy. Olds, Pontiac, Hummer, Mercury, Plymouth and the list will grow - all had to vanish.

The RVW model is shaking the foundation of the RV industry: high volume, low margin. If more of them start opening, as their customer base gets younger and more computer literate - the FRs of this world will be forced to change - but it will be a while.

My 2 cents (Canadian cents that is...)

Denis

Very good points. Remember though, Warren Buffet now owns Forest River and maintains that the internet is a passing fad that will die out in the very near future. Of course he as a few more dollars than I do, but he is still living in the dark ages you talk about with RV's

[rohlingerrv]

"Variety is the spice of life!" is what a teacher I had used to always say,, but I think all it does is cause a lot of confusing! Its not just in the RV business but just about everything, have you tried to buy a TV lately? My goodness I bet there are hundreds of different brands and models! not to mention cars.. there must be thousands of models! I look at 5th wheels for almost 3yrs before buying.. Just too many choices

[cfsoistman]

One other thing I didn't see anyone mention is variety of models for someone to look at. Two dealers may have similar models to sell but different names but by the same manufacturer. Neither one has every floor plan available for visual inspection. The consumer, if like me, wants to see the floor plan firsthand, not something close and here's a brochure with I'm sure you'll love it. Chances are better to actually see the floorplan you're interested in if the manufacturer has two dealers relatively close to each other. Neither has a complete roster of unit floorplans but between the two they probably have it covered or are very close.

[ilovecamping]

I agree with cfsoistman in that we just did that. The dealer we wanted to purchase from didn't have the 23ss in stock but another dealer about 90 min away did. So we went to the other dealer and spent 2 hrs or so going over the trailer and decided that it was what we wanted. We did let that dealer give us a price but it didn't match our dealer and they couldn't finance it with our credit union because of being too far away. Anyway we then went back to our dealer and ordered it and it should be here in 4 wks and 6 days. We are hoping sooner but that would be wonderful.

[1HappyCamper]

What is the best independent rv review site? Is there one?

[revrnd]

After reading the thread about the person unhappy w/ their Salem trailer, I was wondering if there is an hierarchy in the FR brands/modesl. For example a high end vs low end?

In the old days when Alfred P Sloan ran GM, the models were set up as such: Cadillac, Buick, Olds, Pontiac & Chevrolet. The thought was a person would buy a Chev then gradually work their way up the ladder.

Is there any consideration like this among the Forest River (and other manufacturers') brands or have they just been bought as others have posted for market share?

[revrnd]

On our way back from my last camping trip of the year, I met a truck pulling a TT w/ Shamrock by Flagstaff on the front. I wondered what the difference was from a regular Flagstaff. Looking @ the forum directory I see the Sharock is an expandable as opposed to a regular TT.

For the life of me I can't figure the rationale behind all these names. Why not call it a Shamrock by Forest River?

Rather than spending the money (miniscule in the big picture), why not improve their internet presence & quality control?

Coming out w/ more brands/lines/models just confuses the customer. Or maybe that's their intent.

[Hokiehall]

What is amazing is just the sheer volume of different models and brands. We drove through parts of Myrtle Beach Travel Park a couple of weeks ago and I doubt there were two of the same thing in the whole place. And there several hundred sites in this campground. There were similar brand names but we didn't see two of the same model.

[wayne anthony]

My opinion is that some models get a bad reputation and they change the names to suck in more people.

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by revrnd

On our way back from my last camping trip of the year, I met a truck pulling a TT w/ Shamrock by Flagstaff on the front. I wondered what the difference was from a regular Flagstaff. Looking @ the forum directory I see the Sharock is an expandable as opposed to a regular TT.

For the life of me I can't figure the rationale behind all these names. Why not call it a Shamrock by Forest River?

Rather than spending the money (miniscule in the big picture), why not improve their internet presence & quality control?

Coming out w/ more brands/lines/models just confuses the customer. Or maybe that's their intent.

I'm not 100% sure but it could be that Forest River bought the Flagstaff Line from another manufacturer? Similar to buying Coachman. They keep the name so products remain familiar to customers. I saw some nice 5ers at Hershey that had a name by Cedar Creek and then saw Cedar Creek units by Forest River???????? Who knows? It sure gives you lots of choices though when looking for a new unit.