Coloradobus
02-10-2010, 11:52 AM
Latest from RV Business
Brothers Bob and Ron Lee Starting New Company
Bob Lee, founder and former CEO of defunct luxury RV manufacturer Country Coach Inc., along with his brother Ron Lee, are starting a new company to build motorhomes after spending about $1 million to buy Country Coach assets during a bankruptcy auction last week.
But the new firm more than likely won’t build Country Coach-brand motorhomes.
”It probably won’t be under the Country Coach name, but it will have some attachment to that name, of course, because it’s a very quality name,” Lee said. ”It will be tied to Country Coach, for sure.”
Lee said no timetable has yet been established for when the new company will begin building RVs.
”I don’t have (a timetable), Lee said. ”But we are going to move ahead.”
Bob Lee and Ron Lee purchased the intellectual property of the Junction City, Ore., high-end manufacturer, including brand names and blueprints plus steel fabrication equipment, 13 paint booths and chassis testing equipment during the court-ordered auction after Country Coach attempted to stave off foreclosure for nearly a year.
”Acquiring the (intellectual property) was the thing we had to do to go forward,” Lee told RVBUSINESS.com. ”We felt like we needed to get control of the name and all the pieces that go with it.”
Lee founded Country Coach in 1973 as Country Campers to build pickup toppers and truck campers in a 2,000-square-foot plant with two employees. In the early 1980s, the company was renamed Country Coach Inc. after Lee started converting luxury buses and later building luxury Class A motorhomes on its own DynoMax chassis.
The company grew to occupy employ more than 1,500 people and occupied a 450,000-square-foot factory and service facility — property that Bob Lee still owns and tentatively will reoccupy for his new venture.
In 1996, Country Coach was sold to National RV Holdings Inc., a California manufacturer that built Class A motorhomes and fifth-wheel travel trailers.
Lee continued as Country Coach chairman while retaining ownership of the factory complex and leasing it to Country Coach.
In 2007, National RV sold Country Coach to a group of investors led by Los Angeles investment banker Bryant Riley. In early 2009, Country Coach filed for bankruptcy which resulted in last week’s auction.
Bob Lee said that plans for the new company are sketchy, but that he and his brother will build coaches that are generally smaller than those manufactured by County Coach, some of which were as long as 45 feet.
”It’s going to be high-end, shorter and narrower,” Less said. ‘We’re going to try to build a very super unique product. I don’t know what it is going to be yet, but I’m beginning to visualize something in my thought process and I’m sure than Ron is too.”
Lee said that older RVers are tired of the hassles associated with bigger coaches.
”I’m 77 years old and sometimes a big coach is a little more than I want to deal with anymore” Lee said. ”Our customers think the same thing.”
Ron Lee primarily will run the company, Bob Lee said. ” I want to play.”
Brothers Bob and Ron Lee Starting New Company
Bob Lee, founder and former CEO of defunct luxury RV manufacturer Country Coach Inc., along with his brother Ron Lee, are starting a new company to build motorhomes after spending about $1 million to buy Country Coach assets during a bankruptcy auction last week.
But the new firm more than likely won’t build Country Coach-brand motorhomes.
”It probably won’t be under the Country Coach name, but it will have some attachment to that name, of course, because it’s a very quality name,” Lee said. ”It will be tied to Country Coach, for sure.”
Lee said no timetable has yet been established for when the new company will begin building RVs.
”I don’t have (a timetable), Lee said. ”But we are going to move ahead.”
Bob Lee and Ron Lee purchased the intellectual property of the Junction City, Ore., high-end manufacturer, including brand names and blueprints plus steel fabrication equipment, 13 paint booths and chassis testing equipment during the court-ordered auction after Country Coach attempted to stave off foreclosure for nearly a year.
”Acquiring the (intellectual property) was the thing we had to do to go forward,” Lee told RVBUSINESS.com. ”We felt like we needed to get control of the name and all the pieces that go with it.”
Lee founded Country Coach in 1973 as Country Campers to build pickup toppers and truck campers in a 2,000-square-foot plant with two employees. In the early 1980s, the company was renamed Country Coach Inc. after Lee started converting luxury buses and later building luxury Class A motorhomes on its own DynoMax chassis.
The company grew to occupy employ more than 1,500 people and occupied a 450,000-square-foot factory and service facility — property that Bob Lee still owns and tentatively will reoccupy for his new venture.
In 1996, Country Coach was sold to National RV Holdings Inc., a California manufacturer that built Class A motorhomes and fifth-wheel travel trailers.
Lee continued as Country Coach chairman while retaining ownership of the factory complex and leasing it to Country Coach.
In 2007, National RV sold Country Coach to a group of investors led by Los Angeles investment banker Bryant Riley. In early 2009, Country Coach filed for bankruptcy which resulted in last week’s auction.
Bob Lee said that plans for the new company are sketchy, but that he and his brother will build coaches that are generally smaller than those manufactured by County Coach, some of which were as long as 45 feet.
”It’s going to be high-end, shorter and narrower,” Less said. ‘We’re going to try to build a very super unique product. I don’t know what it is going to be yet, but I’m beginning to visualize something in my thought process and I’m sure than Ron is too.”
Lee said that older RVers are tired of the hassles associated with bigger coaches.
”I’m 77 years old and sometimes a big coach is a little more than I want to deal with anymore” Lee said. ”Our customers think the same thing.”
Ron Lee primarily will run the company, Bob Lee said. ” I want to play.”