Liegl: ‘Forest River’s Looking to the Future in a Big Way’ – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
ELKHART, Ind. – It’s not every day that an industry icon like Forest River Inc. founder and CEO Pete Liegl announces some of his succession plans as he did Wednesday, Aug. 20, (See “Forest River Inc. Announces Management Updates”) in turning over the publicly held company’s daily steerage to three notable senior management members.
But that’s what happened when the news media was apprised of strategic changes “designed to continue Forest River’s forward trajectory and dedication to customer satisfaction” in its key markets including recreational vehicles, cargo trailers, pontoon boats, buses, vans and commercial vehicles for both the public and private sectors.
“It is with great pleasure and honor that I write this letter of planned succession,” said Liegl in also informing the company’s 14,000-plus employees of his future plans for the 28-year-old, Elkhart, Ind.-based, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. “While I don’t have any intentions of resigning as CEO, I believe that it is important to envision the future and plan for a smooth transition for the continued legacy of Forest River Inc.”
The three individuals taking on enhanced duties:
- CFO Darrel Ritchie: corporate management
- Veteran David Wright: commercial vehicles
- RV Group GM Doug Gaeddert: all RV’s
Given the potential impact of all this, Liegl agreed to answer a few RVBusiness questions over the phone yesterday regarding this whole headline-generating turn of events. Here’s some of what Liegl, a former Coachmen Industries Inc. executive, had to say:
RVBusiness: We were admittedly surprised to hear the news as were others in the industry, Pete, and found it noteworthy that you’re retaining your position at this point.
Liegl: It’s a matter of giving new responsibilities to the various people we have employed today. They’re all going to have more responsibilities and I’m going to stay on as CEO.
RVB: Okay, so perhaps the best way to describe this whole transition at this point is that you’re redistributing some of your senior corporate responsibilities?
Liegl: Exactly.
RVB: And that’s to occur exactly when?
Liegl: Immediately.
RVB: So, Pete, why this and why now?
Liegl: Because they’re younger people. They’ve got more fire in their bellies than I, and it makes sense to do it because they’re very capable individuals. You take Gaeddert for example: he’s going to have all of the RVs of Forest River, the motorized and the towables. And you take David Wright, he’s going to have the commercial and do a better job at it than I.
And then Darrel Ritchie, our chief financial officer, who’s stepping into corporate management, is going to focus on using Forest River’s money to look at potential new plans for financing dealers’ inventories, rentals, etcetera.
And, specifically we’ve got people like David Wright and Doug Gaeddert who are very competent. They can do more than what they’ve done in the past. And we’re consolidating some of our overall operations, like in Gaeddert’s area where he’ll be not only over the towables, but he’ll be over the motorized as well.
RVB: And this is a look into the future, isn’t it?
Liegl: Yes, very definitely. I guess I’ve had a good run at it, but I don’t have the get-up and go that those boys do.
RVB: For those of us who have followed Forest River for years, is there anything that you would add to this about the company’s big picture looking into the future.
Liegl: We’re just going to do more of what we’ve been doing, but hopefully better.
And, again, looking at finances, the fact of the matter is that we’ve got the money, so, I’m asking, ‘Why don’t we do our own financing for dealers?’ That’s what Darrel Richie’s looking at doing right now. Do we do short-term and long-term financing, wholesale and retail?
That’s his job. Because we’ve got the funds in the bank, we got the money, why not do it? And that’s going to be a big boost right there. And then you consolidate under Gaeddert both the towables and the motorized. I think that’s going to be a big plus. And David Wright will oversee commercial growth, and we’re getting a hell of a lot more of that including buses and everything else under that umbrella.
All three of them want to get going on that, and so, fine. They’ll do a better job than I ever thought of doing.
RVB: You’ve made some pretty bold statements lately, as has Doug Gaeddert, about Forest River’s RV market strength lately. Is that still the case?
Liegl: Yes, that is correct. We’ve been doing very well and we’re expecting more of the same going forward.
We’re making good money every month, and the future looks like more of the same. And just looking at when I have the opportunity to take the towables and the motorized and put them together under Gaeddert, that makes sense to me. And putting all of our commercial work together, that makes sense to me, too.
And we’re only getting going. We’re just starting this next phase. So, in my estimation, we’re going to be doing even better in the future.
