It has been reported on Josh the RV nerd and RV Miles that the Landmark line has been discontinued. I don’t live here on this forum nearly as much as I used to, but I find no mention of whether these are true or being misrepresente. Why do I ask, because I’m a Landmark owner and I know once a line has been discontinued for the most part it loses additional resale value.
if it is true that Heartland is discontinuing the Landmark brand, it harkens me back to a statement when I worked that said, don’t forget who got you to the dance. Unless my understanding is incorrect, it was Landmark that made Heartland. If they feel that Landmark has run its course, it just shows how out of touch management is/was! In my opinion they made some poor management choices, first was to move away from sub 40’ 5th wheels. Being a full timer I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard people who start sub 40’ move to the monster units 42-44’, only to regret having to move it around. Second, I feel Heartland/Landmark lost their way as to quality. Build your entry level units cheaply, but keep quality and workmanship in your top of the line. When GM or Ford realized they couldn’t support all their lines anymore, you didn’t see them drop Cadillac or Lincoln lines. I have documented in the past after doing a plant tour, corporate had no quality control during the build process. The day I was in the plant it was filthy. There is such a thing as clean dirt (the debris that builds up during that days production) and there is dirty dirt (a continued pile of trash from days/weeks of production kicked aside for “someone” else to clean). Well let me tell you, the plant was nothing but dirty dirt. It was appalling.
Heartland is missing the mark building a quality control facility for units AFTER they are built. Edward Demings (he is the one that put Japan on the map) stressed the time to build quality is during the production process, not afterwards. If things are done correctly during the build you don’t need an army of quality control people. I know this seems off base, but if the Landmark line must die, then someone has to do an in depth analysis as to why it failed. It’s not that the market moved away from a higher end unit, it’s that the line moved away from its intended market.
if it is true that Heartland is discontinuing the Landmark brand, it harkens me back to a statement when I worked that said, don’t forget who got you to the dance. Unless my understanding is incorrect, it was Landmark that made Heartland. If they feel that Landmark has run its course, it just shows how out of touch management is/was! In my opinion they made some poor management choices, first was to move away from sub 40’ 5th wheels. Being a full timer I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard people who start sub 40’ move to the monster units 42-44’, only to regret having to move it around. Second, I feel Heartland/Landmark lost their way as to quality. Build your entry level units cheaply, but keep quality and workmanship in your top of the line. When GM or Ford realized they couldn’t support all their lines anymore, you didn’t see them drop Cadillac or Lincoln lines. I have documented in the past after doing a plant tour, corporate had no quality control during the build process. The day I was in the plant it was filthy. There is such a thing as clean dirt (the debris that builds up during that days production) and there is dirty dirt (a continued pile of trash from days/weeks of production kicked aside for “someone” else to clean). Well let me tell you, the plant was nothing but dirty dirt. It was appalling.
Heartland is missing the mark building a quality control facility for units AFTER they are built. Edward Demings (he is the one that put Japan on the map) stressed the time to build quality is during the production process, not afterwards. If things are done correctly during the build you don’t need an army of quality control people. I know this seems off base, but if the Landmark line must die, then someone has to do an in depth analysis as to why it failed. It’s not that the market moved away from a higher end unit, it’s that the line moved away from its intended market.
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