Both Earthroamers & Unicat at Pomona RV Show

[7wt]

Very interesting. I wonder what their projected sales for that thing are? I would guess in the 300 to 500 range over the course of five years at most.

 

[ujoint]

I think that most of us will be shocked at how many they sell. Look at the Rhino's. When I saw the price of those, I thought "who would pay 10K for that thing" Man was I wrong. Most of us on this forum are do-it-yourself guys, so 110K is a crazy thought. If I had that budget on an Expedition rig, I wouldn't hesitate to sign the papers. There are allot of people in this great land we call the USA (or even overseas, I'm sure some JK-EV's will go that way too) that have mucho mucho $$$$$$$$$. So now the question is: JK-EV or loaded Sportsmobile?

 

[Scott Brady]

my point being, the final cost of a product has to be pro rated over the ENTIRE production run.

Yep, I helped specify and design it...

I have also built my own, and I have worked for the OEM's for a half-dozen years managing high-volume safety system operations (think airbag machined parts), which is the reason why I stand behind the appropriate cost of the XV-JP.

Being able to afford something, and if the product is worth the price being asked is often mutually exclusive. However, the former often calls into question by the later.

Quality, performance and exclusivity never come cheap.

 

[Scott Brady]

EarthRoamer sells several dozen of the XV-LT per year. I would not be surprised if they sell hundreds of the XV-JP per year.

Don't think of it like truck owners moving UP, think about all of the RV owners moving DOWN... These vehicles provide comfort, economy and FREEDOM that an RV can never provide.

Babyboomers don't want the 40' diesel pusher, they want the Sportsmobiles and EarthRoamers and Adventure Trailers and 4Wheel Campers, and the tremendous success of these companies and their products is evidence of that.

 

[Willman]

Look who i met up with in Page, AZ on the way back from the ET!...He was out of Las Vegas

Very nice rig inside and out!

Worth every penny!

 

[Lynn]

if they build 100, thats 114 million gross. 5% profit would be almost 6 million bucks.

Um, I think you're off by a factor of 10.

$114K X 100 = $11.4M, not $114M.

5% profit would be $570K, not $6M

minus 30 million for the jeeps

and if you were trying to multiply $30K per Jeep times 100 Jeeps that $3M, not $30M

oh im aware. i was a manager at a plant that turned out $40000+ fasteners. yea. one friggin bolt.

You sure that wasn't $4,000 per bolt?

 

[VikingVince]

Both Zimm and Scott have absolutely valid points of view! The underlying issues, IMO, are a combination of price points, profit margins, owner-determined production capacity and targeted consumer. Earthroamers are expensive/overpriced? (Zimm's point of view) and there are justifiable high costs of development, marketing, and overhead being passed on to a select group of buyers. (Scott's point of view)

But let's keep this in mind....Bill Swails is not trying to be Henry Ford!!!...i.e. he is not designing and manufacturing a product for the masses. Both his products are targeted for a high-end, well-to-do consumer (especially the XV-LT and a little less so with the XV-JP)...someone who can afford expensive "toys" like the yacht, the condo in Aspen, the Ferrari, etc. He is not...let me repeat that...not ,in my opinion, targeting the average guy on this forum (unfortunately!)...and that is perfectly fine! More power to him! But that is why the buyers of his products are paying for the high cost of development and limited production.

So.....are Earthroamers worth every penny? It's entirely a subjective evaluation and opinion...depending on where you fit into the socioeconomic mantra of "the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys" :arabia:

Hey...is my thread getting hijacked?!! LOL...I guess not...I posted the prices!!!...keep it coming!

 

[fisher205]

If you are only getting a 5% profit, you should put your money in bonds.

Yes you can probably build your own rig for less money. A person can build their own house for considerably less than buying a new one. It will be then completely set up for them. The big thing is do you have the ability, time, and willing to build the same quality house. The same goes for our rigs. My metal fab skills suck and I'm getting to the point I hate to even change the oil in my cars. I've found it's I'm better off to pay someone to get the quality I want.

Bill Swails. Darrin Fink, Americat and other custom offroad builders are doing a great job and for the quality of their builds the rigs need to be recognized similar to a custom built home.

 

[zimm]

aww **** im a monkeys :shakin:

lesson: look for typos before sending

read 1000 in the post for mass production comparison.

 

[zimm]

I would not be surprised if they sell hundreds of the XV-JP per year.
t.

ah ha! an anticipated production run of 100 errr 10000000 errrr 1000 wasnt to damn far off then.

i think you COULD sell 1000 of those, just not at that price point. look how many conversion vans were sold in their hayday. most were real scrappy, but the demand was there.

 

[DaveInDenver]

i think you COULD sell 1000 of those, just not at that price point.

I'm consistently surprised at how much money people have to throw around. At $114,000, I think they'll sell just fine. I also don't think Earthroamer is gouging anyone. The market will bear what it will, so if anything I think looking at product and the competition, I think his starting point is too low.

 

[zimm]

If you are only getting a 5% profit, you should put your money in bonds.


.

after all is said and done 6 million is good. production and securities are two different things. to buy 1000000 in securities you need 1000000 bucks. and if you guess poorly, you loose it all (stock/bond holders are at the bottom of the pile when a company tanks) not so for production.

im a vendor for the larger companies in pittsburgh, the biggest grocery chain grossed 6 billion. profit on food nationwide is around 2%. (im not privy to their books so i have to extrapolate from industry averages). say 4 billion was food. then they cleared 80,000,000 for the food. not bad for a private company. house brands, for which they do their own R&D on (i like to drop in on the testing lab ) are double the profits... if someone wants their pop tart over the real pop tart, and its not a waste of shelf space, that is.

but they didnt need to FRONT 6 billion to get the profit! their net came from a much smaller outlay backed by security, suppliers, and pro rated out over years. same thing for earthroamer. im sure they would LOVE to clear 6 million. my point is they are doing it on to few units and the initial buyers are paying for it.

id apologize for the hijack, but the thread owner asked for it!

 

[zimm]

I'm consistently surprised at how much money people have to throw around. At $114,000, I think they'll sell just fine. I also don't think Earthroamer is gouging anyone. The market will bear what it will, so if anything I think looking at product and the competition, I think his starting point is too low.

thats not gouging. gouging is when there is a sudden demand due to catastrophic circumstances, and a retailer rapes the consumer. it wouldnt matter to me, but in this instance it could be construed as my opinion, and it is not.

the high price point would more likely be due to a limit in production capacity of one of their suppliers, or a lack of confidence in the ability to meet higher unit sales. it is my OPINION that they wouldnt have issues with higher unit sales. the cool factor is thru the roof. almost makes me wanna buy a jeep... almost. id rather get shell and backhalf the pig.

 

[peekay]

where was the Unicat? I saw the Earthroamer and Sportsmobile but didn't see a Unicat. Going back this Saturday.

 

[Scott Brady]

i think you COULD sell 1000 of those, just not at that price point.

Sportsmobile moves 300+ camper vans per year, at about the same price point.