Introduction
Winnebago industries are financially stable. The firm owns its own land, building and equipment and has no long term debt. Winnebago has been producing motor homes since 1958. This has allowed establishing itself as a leader and innovator in the North American market and the field of motor homes. This made Winnebago a famous brand name and allowed it to be a fixture of American motor culture such as ford and Harley Davidson. In 2001 Winnebago ended its year as the number one motor home maker for the first time in 20 years and increasing its market share in the industry by 10%. Although the numbers look good, sales have actually declined leading to conclusion there are several reasons behind the decline. These reasons include the economy uncertainty resulting from September eleven and more importantly the extremely high increase in fuel prices. Winnebago is going to try to avoid declining sales and retain its leadership of the market.
There are several ways of reducing costs that Winnebago can use to stop the decline of its sales and improve efficiency. Although they can follow the footsteps of several major American corporations by outsourcing production to different countries in order to reduce cost, this move will contradict with its values and mission statement. This could lead to quality decrease and most importantly alienate loyal American clients who are Ethnocentric and prefer buying all American products. This will make Winnebago also lose part of its appeal. This point is proven by the current sate of the American motor industry who is struggling to make profits even as they have outsourced most of their production lines. This proves that outsourcing is not a liable option. Another option is shifting production facilities to different ...