Cruiser rv bought by Thor.

[jeepcruiser]

Looks like Cruiser RV has been bought up by Heartland industries, (Thor)

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news...a266bfb37.html.

[profdant139]

Uh-oh. That may not be good news. On one hand, Thor has greater resources. On the other hand, it is such a big outfit that the Fun Finder brand (and features) may be folded into a "lowest common denominator" mega-firm, lost in the shuffle.

[LEWR]

Thor also owns Airstream, Crossroads, Dutchmen, Heartland, Keystone, Livinlite, KZ, Thor Motor Coaches, Bison Horse Trailers.

It seems Thor has all high quality RV companys. Maybe this is a good thing for the Fun Finder community. More capital money to improve the product, maybe add more dealers.

What are your thoughts?

[profdant139]

Out of curiosity, I did some reading about why Thor bought Cruiser -- supposedly, Thor is doing so well, and space is so tight in Elkhart, and workers are so scarce, that they needed to expand, and Cruiser had that capacity.

That could be good news. On the other hand, if they use the Cruiser assembly line to build other brands, that could confuse the workers, who would not be focusing exclusively on the Cruiser specs.

On the third hand, I have no idea what I am talking about, never having seen an RV assembly line, so who knows??

[Denver Raider]

Only time will tell but usually when a larger company buys a smaller company, it turns out to bad news for the smaller company. Fun Finder may get lost in the shuffle of the larger company from this move.

[Travels with Yoly]

Sometimes a larger company will purchase a smaller company simply to remove them from competing in the same market. It's the easiest way to increase market share.

[N&K]

It will be interesting to see the impact of the purchase on warranties. I've had an issue in front of Cruiser for a number of months with no solution.

[Eagle]

Originally Posted by profdant139

Out of curiosity, I did some reading about why Thor bought Cruiser -- supposedly, Thor is doing so well, and space is so tight in Elkhart, and workers are so scarce, that they needed to expand, and Cruiser had that capacity.

That could be good news. On the other hand, if they use the Cruiser assembly line to build other brands, that could confuse the workers, who would not be focusing exclusively on the Cruiser specs.

On the third hand, I have no idea what I am talking about, never having seen an RV assembly line, so who knows??

I also read about the purchase....including about tight space and scarce workers and wanting to expand.

The article also mentioned Thor didn't have anything along the line of units like Cruiser makes so it was to compliment their production by expanding their market share wider.

And it's true, sometimes they just 'buy out the competition' to eliminate them.

Time will tell.

[WSKinVA]

Time has told us this...

1) Cruiser RV is still in business.
2) Heartland is their 'parent' company.
3) Cruiser RV answers the telephone.
4) Their email and website Contact Page are not reliable at this time. Heartland has been tinkering with systems (from what I hear).

Hopefully, the products that Cruiser RV makes that are unique to the industry will carry on and get better.

One thing that has historically happened as Thor/Heartland has bought up other lines is the disappearance of smaller trailer lines. Heartland has only got two or three floor plans smaller than 26 feet. I suppose there is a greater profit margin in bigger campers, but the market is suffering from a lack of 25 ft and under inventory. Perhaps this is where Cruiser fits in?

We'll see....

I have made a few calls to the factory to get some technical questions answered. A fellow named Gentry was very helpful each time.

I have also been in contact with the Heartland Owners Club about whether they will be including Cruiser branded RVs anytime soon. The pat answer is "you must be the owner of an RV *manufactured* by Heartland"... Well, technically, they now are. Plus, there is the past inclusion of the brands they bought from Fleetwood, like Prowler and Wilderness. So, on this too, we'll see....

For now, they are a welcoming group. You can join their Forums and also attend rallies for an additional fee.

Just thought I'd pass along some information.

Happy Camping in you Fun Finders!