Keithl Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Just spotted this headline on OAL's Motorhomes News page... http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/Manufacturers/Bentley-Motorhomes-enters-liquidation/_ch1_nw2280_pg1 Sad news but let's hope a buyer can be found. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 A crying shame as their vans looked very nice..................Maybe another example of the banks not being prepared to support British businesses through a crisis they created with their greed >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Or it could be that more people are holding onto their old motorhomes and the market for new 'vans has diminished to a point where the market just can't support as many manufacturers. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Dave Newell - 2012-08-10 9:48 AM Or it could be that more people are holding onto their old motorhomes and the market for new 'vans has diminished to a point where the market just can't support as many manufacturers. D. That sounds much more like the reality. In any recession, more people save rather than spending. Especially when the spend is on a VERY big price ticket nice-to-have-but-not-essential item like a new motorhome. A perception of future financial uncertainty will convince an awful lot of people to hold off on spending £40/50/60k that they don't NEED to at present. Additionally, there will be number of people who fall on hard times (redundancy etc) and have to sell off their nearly new motorhome to raise cash, which adds to the supply side at the same time as the demand side falls sharply. The overall effect should be to cause prices to fall, which further hurts new MH manufacturers/retailers, as they have to cut prices in order to lure anyone into parting with their cash; especially when the market is flooded with nearly new used models, at substantially lower prices, and fitted with lots of 1st-owner fitted extra bells and whistles. Add into the mix the high value (or very expensive, depending on which side of the fence you sit) British pound versus Euro, and the already significantly cheaper mainland Europe MH retailers become yet a further, massive, 20% to 25% even cheaper.......luring yet more of the shrinking pond of UK new-van buyers to make their purchase in euros from a German/French/Belgian retailer. It certainly seems like a buyers market now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chausson le mor Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 would not be at all surprised to see say a major new player take an interest shall we start a book! I would give bailey odds on favourite!!!!! (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerC Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 That is sad news indeed. Regarding the 'sales' being down scenario.......my brother in law does work for a well known Midlands MH centre and told me he/they had never been busier than they were earlier this year. The reason behind this upturn is (if what customers have been saying is true) that 'older' people/couples are seeing little or no return on their savings and have decided to spend it on a secondhand or new MH and get out there to enjoy life a bit more. Fingers crossed for Bentley......not good for the staff if it folds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 It's always depressing to see such things happen, particularly because of the knock-on effect on customers, suppliers, and workforce. I'm not usually one to post in such a manner, or to decry entreprenuership, but given the proprietors' aggregate record in the industry (Holdsworth, Cockburn Holdsworth, Autocruise, and now Bentley), one might reflect on the circumstances and at least consider a different view. To quote Oscar Wilde, "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both (or more)looks like carelessness". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chausson le mor Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 exactly what we did made redundant from a materials handling company due to drop in demand from manufacturing companies cutting back on machinery 2 years ago some of my redundancy pay off funded our motorhome thought better to enjoy and spend now as you cant take it with you!!! Sad to see manufacturing decline but this has been happening for last 15 years! at one time the UK was market leader made everything in the UK and had a proud heritage. Sadly the Japanese then korea put pay to the materials handling field and now not a single 100% UK company manufacturers fork lift trucks. even Lansing Bagnall is a German company! Yet it was the UK who created the concept of a "stacker truck"!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 while I agree with most said, the withdrawal of the attention grabbing 10 year guarantee was the kiss of death IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Anything like is always very sad for the employees...lets hope they find a buyer and it can be kept going.. ..although having said that,in the case of MHs,unless all on here are driving around in Bentley,Autosleeper,Bailey,Autotrail MHs,then I suspect we're being *slightly* hypercritical.... :-S If we're not part of the solution,we're part of the problem... ;-) (..just off out to wash the Chausson......... :$ ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-08-10 11:57 AM while I agree with most said, the withdrawal of the attention grabbing 10 year guarantee was the kiss of death IMO ....I suspect you may be confusing them with Bailey (?) :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasmineAnders Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 At a recent dealer's show the MD told me that he is now concentrating on second hand models because his new stock is very slow moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I suspect it tends to be the middle classes that buy new motorhomes ;-)..................and it seems they are no longer feeling as affluent as they used to :-S With my own business the shops that I work for are only doing work for the wealthy ;-).............the middle class market has all but dried up :-S I expect years of recession/depression to come 8-)..............Oh well never mind, may as well spend more time away in the camper :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Not a direct comment on Bentley, but our motorhome industry seems to have followed a "British tradition" for years. This is inevitably a generalisation, but they failed to ensure their products were of adequate quality which, considering that almost everything that goes into them is imported from exactly the same suppliers as all the mainland manufacturers use, basically concerns only design and assembly quality. The biggest problem for years, as with UK made caravans, was leaks. Mainlanders, most notably the Germans, generally got a better handle on producing watertight, fault free, caravans and motorhomes, and gained a reputation for so doing. So, we went and bought them. The response of our manufacturers, apart from being too little too late, was to try to match their warranties, without matching their detailed design or superior assembly quality and materials. I can only assume the numbers of warranty claims on UK made vans grew in consequence, and that in turn placed a strain on the dealers. So, dealers tried to "duck" warranty responsibility, or simply could not get parts, and upset customers. As they say, it takes years to build reputations, but only minutes to wreck them. Dealers on imported vans, on the other hand, were getting a more reliable and more fault free product, so had less warranty demand, could get parts, so could respond better when issues arose, so had happier customers. Of course this is not a universal truth. There are well made vans from the UK, and less well made ones from Europe. However, the pattern looks remarkably similar to that with our motor industry, our motorcycle industry, our electrical goods industry, our white goods industry etc etc. Always the blame was cast upon the labour force, until foreign manufacturers began opening, or taking over, production facilities in UK. Again there are exceptions, but from what I read most have pronounced themselves satisfied with the way UK labour performs. The proviso, sadly, seems to be that the management must be either foreign, or have a substantial foreign contingent. However, I don't think any of this applies to Bentley. In their case, from what I have read, the problem was that they lunched an expensive, optional, luxury good into a recession - no doubt believing the recession would soon end, and it didn't. Having done that, they began developing more and more models, which must have placed considerable strain on their finances until, I suspect, their backers too fright and pulled the plug. Over-ambition, I rather suspect, will probably emerge as the cause of their downfall, which after all, is just another branch of poor management. Think Rolls Royce. Too many engineers, too enthusiastic for their product, allied to weak financial control that should have been applying the brakes. All that said and done, it is of course a shame, but IMO it is a very difficult market to break into from scratch with a completely new brand. They were brave, but ultimately I think they just over-reached. If a buyer comes forward who can manage the costs and reel in just a bit the founders ambitions, they could yet be a great success. The products were always well reviewed, so they were clearly doing something right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerC Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 With your last comments Brian you could be 'spot on'. I am an avid motorcyclist and have been for years. In the past 10+ years a number of outlets...both for bikes and clothing have been very successful in the early stages and have grown relatively slowly. The scenario is they go from one outlet to two then three. These stores are very successful and this seems to entice the management into looking to take over smaller 'local' bike shops and expand rapidly. As is always the case this expansion has given them national coverage 'until'........a few years down the line servicing the 'over expansion' costs proves too much and they go to the wall. This has happened to at least 4 of what I would call 'big players'. Maybe the management of these companies, and companies in the same position should think more about consolidation than expansion...or as might be in the case of Bently concentrate on a core range of products......if indeed it is part of the reason for their demise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Brian, I trust you meant Rolls Royce cars. The engine side of Rolls Royce is doing well. That and the railway industry are hoovering up engineers in Derby, taking UK and some graduates who came to study here from abroad. Shame about Bentley. I looked at their vans several times but whilst the showroom look was good, when I dug beneath the skin, I was less sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Robinhood - 2012-08-10 12:16 PM JudgeMental - 2012-08-10 11:57 AM while I agree with most said, the withdrawal of the attention grabbing 10 year guarantee was the kiss of death IMO ....I suspect you may be confusing them with Bailey (?) :-S No I dont think so, they entered the market with a staggering 10 year warranty that was withdrawn soon after. As Brian says the cost was probably unsustainable.....On travel laptop so not in mind to trawling through old posts. to many expensive models and out of kliter with present economic circumstance.........NEXT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 To tell the truth when we looked at Bently Motorhomes we were always impressed with the designs and quality and if they had had a layout with a garage which we needed we may well have ordered one. Having said that I always did wonder just how they managed to come up with the funds to support such rapid development and such a wide model range. Let's hope that now that the work and development has been done someone may be able to take advantage of that, pick up the peices and run with it. It would be a shame to see such promising development go to waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-08-10 2:50 PM Robinhood - 2012-08-10 12:16 PM JudgeMental - 2012-08-10 11:57 AM while I agree with most said, the withdrawal of the attention grabbing 10 year guarantee was the kiss of death IMO ....I suspect you may be confusing them with Bailey (?) :-S No I dont think so, they entered the market with a staggering 10 year warranty that was withdrawn soon after. As Brian says the cost was probably unsustainable.....On travel laptop so not in mind to trawling through old posts. to many expensive models and out of kliter with present economic circumstance.........NEXT! ....well, I knew Bailey had done that: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/Manufacturers/Bailey-withdraws-free-10-year-warranty/_ch1_nw1929_pg1 ....but I didn't know Bentley had originally had a 10 year warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 According to the PM the private sector is going to get the economy out of the hole its in............... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Well, He sold the company once and I guess was trying to get in a position to sell it again!! OK if you can I guess. But this is not the climate to do it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Sad ,,,feel sorry for all involved,Regards,Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Brian's comments are very pertinent. However, even EU manufaturers have gone to the wall, or being taken over. Eriba in France and Tirus come to mind. Where I feel the EU makers have scored is that they produce models that appeal to a wide ranging market, in other words both young and old. They also do not flood them with gizmos that many never use and I have to admit far too many UK models have interiors that look like a cross between agranny flat and a tart's boudoir. I could never understand this obsession with having a 4 burner hob, oven and a microwave and at the same time fit a very basic Thetford toilet model. Enlarging a washroom at the expense of bed size will never appeal to me, I like to sleep at night. Even when EU makers produce models purely for the UK market, I suspect many buyers actually prefer the EU original. Having a door on the offside, lefthand drive, or Schoko plugs is no longer an issue as many owners spend a lot of time over the Channel anyway. I also note that apart from the odd exception EU makers sell lots of vans here but UK makers sell very few over there so they have limited their market right away. Price is also a major issue as many UK vans seem to have horrendous price tags, yet if you wihs you can buy a basic van from a EU maker for soemtimes half the price. For holidays etc do you need anything else? I suspect Bentley will not be the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Dave225 - 2012-08-10 4:50 PM Brian's comments are very pertinent. However, even EU manufaturers have gone to the wall, or being taken over. Eriba in France and Tirus come to mind. Eriba didn't go to the wall they are still alive and well they are and always have been part of Hymer, during the resession Hymer consolidated and brought the manufacturing back to their home country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Just read the news about Bentley and am very dissapointed, I own a 6 year old Autocruise, and on looking for a replacement a Bentley was the only van that fitted our requirements. Much prefere British Vans, but have a very strong dislike for anything produced by Swift. Oh well ! guess we will keep the Autocruise until another 'Quality' British model comes along. I don't like habitation doors on the wrong side or Large immovable tables,like a workable kitchen with an oven at a 'Safe' height, with 4 grill burners, don't like climbing ladders or onto the roof of a garage to sleep. AND as we spend most of our holidays in the UK, we like a lounge where we can 'lounge', not sit upright around a fixed table. That list seems to have discounted most of the vans we have looked at over the last few months (except the Bentley !!). any Ideas ? Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.