Quote:
Originally Posted by Myron Leski
Wasn't Airstream bought out, acquired by some big corporation, a few years ago? You know, the kind of corporation that sees a cash cow profit opportunity and then guts the product quality to increase their margin. Olivers and Escapes are still owned by the original owners and their excellent customer service reflects that,
|
Wrong premise. When corporations buy a business, they tend to pay a PREMIUM over FMV. To get a return on this investment, they want to GROW the business, not use it as a cash cow. Cash cow = save the cash, and don't buy another business, and certainly don't pay a premium for it. Short term thinking = stock buy backs, not buying other businesses.
To get a payback on such a purchase, larger corporations tend to focus on reducing overhead (don't need two sets of senior managers, two accounting departments, two HR teams, etc., so called synergy savings) and purchasing (negotiating better pricing from suppliers). The best also share knowledge on manufacturing expertise, sharing best practices, improving processes and quality.
Jeopardizing quality just leads to business decline and increased costs, everything from warranty claims to image and reputation. Rebuilding a reputation is very expensive!!
Sure, some purchases fail. But the winning ones work well. Think when Google bought youtube. Thats worked pretty well. There are thousands of more examples out there.
Look at the excitement right now on the Airstream NEST trailer. Had Airstream not bought NEST, would the company have survived? By being purchased by Airstream, NEST has the chance to be a really great trailer.
And another strong competitor in the molded FG trailer business is GOOD NEWS to all of us, as it pushes the entire industry to up their game.