Thor Purchases Former Monaco Plant
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowElkhart-based Thor Industries Inc. (NYSE: THO) has agreed to purchase a plant closed last month by Monaco Towable RV. Thor says it will use the space in Elkhart County to meet “continued strong demand” for its motor coach subsidiary's products.
February 18, 2014
News Release
Elkhart, Ind. — Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE: THO) today announced an expansion of production capacity for its motorhomes through an agreement to purchase a 220,000-square-foot facility located in Elkhart, Indiana which was formerly used to produce Monaco towable recreational vehicles (RVs). The additional production capacity will be used to meet continued strong demand for products produced by the Company's Thor Motor Coach (TMC) subsidiary.
The Company's TMC subsidiary will operate the plant with plans to begin production in the new facility during the second half of the Company's fiscal year. On February 4, 2014, Thor announced that the Company's sales of motorized RVs increased by 43.8% to $339.3 million for the first six months ended January 31, 2014.
“We are pleased to once again have the opportunity to expand our motorized operations in Elkhart County,” said Bob Martin, Thor President and CEO. “With the recovery of the motorized RV market gaining strength over the past year, we have pursued opportunistic expansion of our motorized production capacity, first with the acquisition of the Wakarusa complex and now with this plant on the south side of Elkhart. We view this expansion as an important step to meet both our immediate production needs and long-term strategic goals for our motorized business,” he added.
Jeff Kime, President of Thor Motor Coach commented, “This facility presents us with the ability to expand our capacity while maintaining the flexibility to meet emerging demands for our products in the market. In addition, the increased capacity will allow us to reduce overtime and the current stress on our existing plants and better align our production volumes with higher demand for our products. We have begun operations on two production lines at our Wakarusa plant purchased last year, but that additional capacity isn't sufficient to meet the growth of our markets. As a result, when the opportunity to set up operations in this facility presented itself, we jumped at the chance to expand production for what is shaping up to be another strong year of growth.”
About Thor Industries, Inc.
Thor is the sole owner of operating subsidiaries that, combined, represent one of the world's largest manufacturers of recreational vehicles.
– See more at: http://ir.thorindustries.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2014/Thor-Announces-Expansion-Of-Motorized-Production-Capacity-To-Meet-Continued-Strong-Demand/default.aspx#sthash.EaGGzPb2.dpuf
Source: Thor Industries Inc.