Brunswick to close plants...

[Gerritt]

Brunswick to Shut Boat Plants, May Fire 2,700 Workers (Update1)

2008-06-26 08:12 (New York)

 

 

(Adds restructuring charges in fifth paragraph.)

 

By Andrea Snyder

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Brunswick Corp., the maker of

bowling equipment and recreational boats, plans to close 12

 

 

plants and said it may fire as many as 2,700 workers after U.S.

power-boat sales fell to the lowest in more than 40 years.

The company aims to decrease its fixed costs by $300

million from 2007, Lake Forest, Illinois-based Brunswick said

today in a PR Newswire statement. The company had previously

said it would close eight factories.

A shrinking U.S. job market, surging fuel prices and

declining home values reduce consumers' ``ability and desire''

to buy boats, billiards tables and fitness equipment, Chief

Executive Officer Dustan McCoy said in the statement.

``We are not assuming that these pressures will abate any

time soon,'' McCoy said in the statement. ``We are planning for

an environment in which the U.S. marine market will be smaller

in the near term.''

Pretax restructuring charges, including asset writedowns,

will total $200 million to $220 million, the boat maker said.

Eighty-five percent of the charges will be recorded in 2008, the

company estimated.

The company said it will host a conference call at 10 a.m.

central daylight time to discuss the plant closures.

 

G.

 

 

To add to this story... from another news agency..(This one being a local one in which Brunswick manufactures..)

 

News Sentinel staff

Originally published 09:57 a.m., June 26, 2008

Updated 12:37 p.m., June 26, 2008

 

Brunswick Corp. said Thursday it will cut 1,000 jobs, including about 310 in East Tennessee. The company also plans to close four boat manufacturing plants in an effort to slash costs by $300 million this year. The four plants have not been identified, said Brunswick spokesman Dan Kubera.

 

Employees were notified today of the layoffs.

 

Locally, 270 employees will lose their jobs at the Sea Ray plants in Knoxville and Vonore. Another 40 employees at the U.S. Marine plant in Dandrige, Tenn. will also be let go.

 

Retail unit sales of power boats in the United States have been in decline since late 2005; however, the rate of decline has been accelerating, Dustan E. McCoy, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

 

Industry retail unit sales were down 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 and down 21 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the respective year-ago quarters. Further, these reductions were recorded off of an already low base. Total unit sales of power boats in the United States in 2007 were at their lowest in more than 40 years, McCoy added.

 

“An uncertain economy, high fuel and food prices, slumping home sales and values, rising unemployment and other factors continue to erode U.S. consumers’ confidence and are reducing their ability and desire to purchase discretionary items such as boats, and billiards tables and fitness equipment for their homes,” said Dustan E. McCoy, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

 

“For our planning purposes, we are not assuming that these pressures will abate any time soon. As a result, we are planning for an environment in which the U.S. marine market will be smaller in the near term, and we will resize our company accordingly.”

 

The company said that it had notified employees today that it would be reducing its hourly and salaried work force at some of its marine plants by 1,000. Further work force reductions of approximately 1,000 hourly and 700 salaried employees across the company’s marine business units and staff functions are contemplated as additional plant closures and consolidations and other cost-cutting measures are completed, according to the news release.

 

Brunswick has already completed or announced eight plant closuers since 2007, which will bring the total number of plants to 17 by the end of 2009. Brunswick also plans to reduce the number of models and option packages it offers.

 

More details as they develop and in Friday’s News Sentinel.

 

The Associated Press Contributed to this story.

Edited June 26, 2008 by Gerritt

[Gerritt]

and now this....Fountain Powerboats...

 

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articl...ire/0407797.htm

 

 

 

G

[pikehunter]

I am not surprised nor am I impressed. There are too many manufacturers out there anyway all going after the same customer.

 

There are going to be more and more shakedowns like this to come, best fuel to fight it is not to read the papers or watch the news as they keep adding lighter fluid to the fire.

[tonyb]

Great....looming plant shutdowns to affect worker morale just after I order my Lund

[cranks bait]

Great....looming plant shutdowns to affect worker morale just after I order my Lund

 

Guess I should hurry up and order mine. Don't want the last cookie off the shelf.