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Rumors were true…reprint of press release
Country Coach information….A personal note to our friends,
As we enter this holiday season here at Country Coach, we also enter a season of change. As most of you know, I have spent most of my adult life growing, nurturing and eventually rescuing the Country Coach brand that I love. I am very proud of what Country Coach came to represent, but I am even more proud of work the core group I assembled after purchasing the intellectual property of Country Coach has accomplished. From the start my goals were to resurrect Country Coach in the spirit in which it was created – to produce the finest motor coaches available, to bring economic vitality and growth to Junction City and to develop stable jobs for our employees.As you know, we have continued to work on the next generation of Country Coach product in the design and prototype stage and to transfer that work to reality of a product, actual production requires much more. To do that I needed to find the right resources to augment and grow what we have started. To that end, I have been working diligently for the past two years. Of the options I had to choose from I have made what I consider the very best choice for Country Coach for both service and production. I am pleased to announce that, effective today, I have sold the Country Coach Campus and intellectual property to Winnebago Industries. I have worked with Winnebago to ensure that Country Coach moves forward and work will begin in earnest to assemble the infrastructure that will lead to Country Coach production. Winnebago will also bring production of some of its current diesel motorhome offerings to Junction City. Please note that future Country Coach products will not be rebranded Winnebagos, but products specifically designed and built to the exacting performance, amenity and standard levels that have always defined Country Coach. Obviously this process will take time but everyone involved is committed to making Country Coach the premier motorcoach offering available.I made this decision because I believe that Winnebago is the best fit for Country Coach and that their, culture, dedication to design and build quality closely mirrors the standards I have set. This transition includes a change for me also as I will step down from the day to day operations. But rest assured, I intend to be the leading Country Coach brand enthusiast so you can expect to see and hear from Cookie and I from time to time as we travel around the country in our 2016 Country Coach Allure.As I write this, I am recalling designing the first Country Camper Class A, I used a lower front from a Winnebago Class A to mock it up, we have come full circle.Until the next time we meet!!Ron Lee -
12 Replies
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Sorry to see that happen, but not really surprised. Last year (2014) when we were out there Ron remarked that he was pretty tired, and he didn’t look well to us. I hope nothing but the best for him & Cookie. They are really classy folks, IMO.
On the flip side, having owned Winnebagos in the past, and having briefly checked out their current high end offerings, they have very serious quality issues. I hope CC’s new s&s coach doesn’t fall victim to Winnies very short sighted and singular focus on the most current quarter bottom line. Only time will tell…But certainly not going to make many CC owners very happy, I would think.
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Here another slant from RV Business. No mention by name building a Country Coach
http://www.rvbusiness.com/2015/12/winnebago-to-build-diesel-coaches-at-ore-plant/
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I might be wrong, and CC owners can correct this, but I believe Miles Circo owns the Prevost CC conversion intellectual materials and what was the remaining inventory at the time of the bankruptcy auction.
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Jon is correct about Miles, but I believe the reference towards the property was the fiberglass side.
I wonder if the only thing coming out of the CC facility in the future would be Winnebago’s.
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Pam & I are planning a west coast trip in 2017. Family and friends in NoCal & Oregon. I was planning on a swing to Junction Or to visit the buses birthplace. Looks like things may be different.
We already felt like an orphan as the old CC was gone. Had hopes to still be able to some support from the new CC. Now that Winnebago will be in charge, my gut says no. Maybe they will or maybe they won’t, I guess I won’t know unless another CC prevost owner goes there before we do.
like the bus we have and admire the work their folks put in it. I just hope they can support us.
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Remember, the is Oregon Motorcoach that was started after the ashes of Country Coach. It, too, has new owner, but Matt Carr is no newly to Country Coach servicing. He bought OMC from Bob and Terry Lee, founders of CountrybCoach. So, there is still a “go to”‘place for all things Country Coach.
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Late last year, Ron Lee, one of the founders of former RV manufacturer Country Coach, was weighing two offers for the company’s coach designs and other intellectual property, and a big chunk of its plant in Junction City.
What finally tipped Lee’s hand, prompting him to sell these assets to Winnebago Industries was Winnebago’s insistence that it intended to revive production of high-end Country Coach motor homes, Lee said.
The other company, which Lee declined to name, “could not guarantee me that,” he said. “They’re not as big (and) as strong an entity as Winnebago.”
Lee said he was so taken with WinneÂbago’s vision that he agreed to sell to the Forest City, Iowa-based firm, even though the other bidder had offered more money.
Winnebago in December paid Lee $5 million for five buildings on nearly 34 acres along East First Avenue in Junction City. Then in early January, Winnebago paid $3.95 million for asbout 8 acres near East Fourth Avenue from a trust created by Bob Lee, Ron’s brother and a Country Coach founder, and Bob’s wife, Terry.
Winnebago says it will manufacture large diesel-powered Winnebago motor homes in Junction City and hire up to 200 employees in the next 18 months. When that’s accomplished, WinneÂbago plans to revive the Country Coach brand of luxury motor coaches in the same plant.
After Country Coach sold to National RV Holdings in 1996, the company struggled Âfinancially, eventually filing for liquidation bankruptcy.
Ron Lee, who had worked for ÂCountry Coach from 1975 to 1995, said he came out of retirement in 2010 to buy Country Coach’s designs, trademarks and other intellectual property, and some of its equipment in a liquidation auction.
He also assembled a team of former Country Coach employees with the goal of keeping the Country Coach brand alive. That team, which grew to about 30 people, provided service and parts for Country Coaches at the Junction City site for the past five years.
Lee considered different ideas to rebuild the company, from Âapplying for local grants to trying to find a foreign investor for the company through the federal Âgovernment’s Immigrant Investor ÂProgram. The program allows foreign residents to apply for permanent U.S. residence if they invest in American companies that plan to create or preserve full-time jobs for U.S. workers.
But none of the ideas panned out, so Lee thought more seriously about selling the plant and its intellectual property.
Shannon Nill, president of Guaranty RV Super Centers in Junction City, said it’s good that Lee kept the team of former Country Coach employees together and working, or else Winnebago might not have chosen to expand in Oregon. The former Country Coach employees now work for Winnebago.
“That shows the company (Country Coach), as well as the area, had a lot of merit,” Nill said.
Lee said he was guided by three goals: “Save the property, save the brand Country Coach, and make jobs in Junction City.”
“Winnebago brings a lot to Lane County and Junction City,” Lee said. “I’ve known these guys for many years. I like the type of product that Winnebago is capable of building. They build in a lower price range (than Country Coach), but the outlook toward customer service and the future of the industry is the way I look at it.
“Even though their offer was not as good as what I had on the table it did what I wanted it to do, so I chose to go with them,” Lee said.
Follow Sherri on Twitter @sburimcdonald . Email sherri@registerguard.com .
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We have been to Country Coach three times in the last four years, and each time we have seen Country Coach Prevosts being worked on, so it is an option. Country Coach Prevosts shared a lot of converter-installed equipment with their production coaches.
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Sorry I gotta call bullshit on the 4th paragraph.
Offered more money but didn’t take it.
Right up your alley BA, you can getcha a Countrybago.
Later
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I offered him $100,000,000 but he had to hold paper and accept terms of $1 per month. Apparently I was the highest offer that he refused.
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Maybe I can get reimbursed for my 2006 now! Just had to say that, Gary
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Gary,
I think you and Al were in the same boat, he got hosed bad as well on his Affinity.
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