[VAL] "Selling all the trailers they make""

["Marc Lizer" <marclizer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting sub-topic digressions.
One mention I wanted to look into was the above referenced assertion.

The information even dovetails back into the other digressions that are
floating about.

Here goes:

I couldn't find breakout numbers for sales for Airstream itself, so let's
start with Airstream's parent company, Thor Industries


Thor Industries http://www.thorindustries.com/ , and this link 
http://www.thorindustries.com/corporate/ will give you a better picture of
what they own.

Notably 3 bus manufactures http://www.thorindustries.com/bus/ and a whole
passel of RV and trailer manufacturers http://www.thorindustries.com/rv/
each with it's own sub brands (for instance http://www.dutchmenmfg.com/),
(but more on sub-brands later).

Now some number crunching on Thor from assorted sources looks like
http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=THO
or
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=THO&d=t
or
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/detail.asp?view=detail&symb=THO&siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigchartsstoryquote
all with a little different appoach to the numbers. But those are just for
fun. Don't spend too much time there.

Thor isn't in a vacuum the competition (of those that are public companies)
come out looking like
http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompaniesByIndustry.jhtml?ind=0221&orderby=coname&sortorder=desc&fullind=Mobile+Homes+%26+RVs&sector=Capital+Goods 
this is now so you can see stock value and hi-low ranges of
Thor in relation to simmilar companies.

A really good read is to take the time and dive into
http://www.thorindustries.com/corporate/annualreport/Thor2003AnnualReport.pdf
Page 1 lists all 30 RV brands they make in 22 indiviual RV plants, and the
13 bus brands made in 3 Bus plants, all of witch Airstream is just one
brand, and just one plant, and hence, just one revenue stream among many.
 Net sales for all companies (in 03) was 1.57 Billion, anad a net profit of
about 79 million dollars. Now 79Mil is alot of money, but 79 Mill is about
5% of the Gross income. Even excluding Bus sales, and making it 80 million
profit, that's about 2.6 million profit per brand (assuming all brands
equal, or at least not running at a loss). 

Why does all this rubbish and gobblygook relate to the ongoing debate?

It shows that Airstream is just one brand, and one cog in a company with
many income streams, and many interests.

 But it is interesting to note that they do call it (Airstream) thier
"flagship" brand, and they specifically mention, with relation to only
Airstream,  "Maintaning it's image as an American icon." (top of page 7),
but they do not mention vintage in particular as part of that plan.

To do that may take many forms, and the way to go about doing that may have
a different meaning to a corporate "suit" from the average Airstream
enthusiast.

It's interesting the lines that are being drawn between.

As a newer member, i don't know if the Corporate background has been
discusses before, even if it has, it's a good refresher to know where
Airstream is looked at as an income stream by the parent compnay. 

That relationship may be what is dictating a relationship of new
manufacture to vintage rolling stock.

Sorry for taking up so much space in the inbox,
Marc Lizer

P. S.
As an aside, there was some discussion on who Aistream is marketing new
models to:
Page 6 clearly lists who Thor (and hence Airstream) is targeting people 55
to 64. They are what they call the demographic "sweet spot" for the
industry.