Date:         Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:53:25 -0800
Reply-To:     Jim Arnott <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Arnott <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Subject:      Re: Westfalia gone bankrupt
In-Reply-To:  <071401caa088$2afe3660$80faa320$@net>
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From: http://www.zeit.de/newsticker/2010/1/28/iptc-bdt-20100127-475-23692066xml

Good chances for Westfalia Rescue

Rheda-Wiedenbrück (AP) - The liquidator of the Westfalia camper  
manufacturer sees good prospects for a reorganization of the company.   

The production was well organized, the products are high quality,  
"said Rainer Eckert on Thursday in Rheda-Wiedenbrück.

  "But there are surpluses in the administration." The insolvency will  

ensure the continued operation by the end of March. "Until then,  
should be fixed, is running in the direction of development." The  
company had made the day before the district court of Bielefeld  
insolvency.

Reason is the 2009 dramatic deterioration in market development, told  

the Westfalia Van Conversion. The slump in motor homes have achieved  
over the past year, on balance, around 40 percent, it said. In  
addition, distinguished himself again this year, no fundamental  
improvement from the market. First, stand up an inventory on the  
program, "said liquidator Eckert. "The backlog of orders is very  
orderly." Currently is busy but only the one shift in production. This  

paragraph is not sufficient for long-term survival of the company.

Westfalia offer attractive, high-quality but expensive products in  
accordance with it, "said Eckert. In difficult economic times,  
consumers would initially save in the leisure sector. Top products  
from Westfalia cost up to 100000 euros. "The ideal solution would be a  

strategic investor." Currently, the traditional company has  
approximately 170 employees. The turnover in 2008 was around 40  
million euros. The company belongs to the Munich-based industrial  
holding Aurelius AG.

Google translate is SOOOOOO cool.

And pictures!

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmotorzeitung.de%2F6591%2Fnews%2Fwestfalia-ist-insolvent%2F&sl=de&tl=en

Jim


On Jan 28, 2010, at 6:10 PM, Tom Hargrave wrote:

> Part of reorganizing involves killing anything that does not  
> contribute to
> the bottom line. Then if that's not enough they start killing off less
> profitable divisions. Their goal will be to trim down to their core
> competency.
>
> There may or may be some short term deals our there depending on  
> what comes
> out of the woodwork but one thing's for sure, once they are through
> reorganizing don't count on support for anything over 7 years old.
>
> snip
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Subject: Re: Westfalia gone bankrupt
>
> They're trying for a re-organization.
>
> Looks like their sales were off 70% last year.  Went from ~40  
> million Euro
> in 2008 to ~12 million in 2009.  Ouch!