By Marilyn Odendahl, Truth Staff
modendahl@etruth.com
ELKHART -- Custom Chassis Products LLC, the joint venture between Monaco Coach Corp. and Navistar Inc., has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
A Navistar representative referred most questions to Monaco but the Oregon-based recreational vehicle manufacturer did not return phone calls Tuesday.
The plant on Nappanee Street has been shut down, said Roy Wiley, spokesman for Navistar. However, the number of employees displaced because of the closure was unknown and, according to Marc Lotter, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, CCP has not filed any notice of layoffs with the state.
We are "currently evaluating all options," Wiley said of the chassis company's future. "No decision has been made yet."
In court documents, CCP listed its assets as totaling $4.92 million and its liabilities as $13.5 million. Those liabilities include $97,136 owed in property taxes to Concord Township and just over $83,000 owed to Elkhart-based suppliers.
The Chapter 7 filing was made on May 22, the same day that a Delaware Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of Monaco's RV division to Navistar for $52 million. Bank of America, one of the main creditors, has until Friday to file an Inventory Adjustment Objection. If the objection is upheld, court documents stated, the purchase agreement between Monaco and Navistar will be terminated. Should the court overrule the objection, then the sale is expected to go forward.
Navistar has repeatedly declined to discuss its plans for the RV division until the agreement is final.
Wiley said the bid to purchase the assets of Monaco Coach is unrelated to CCP's decision to file for bankruptcy. He described CCP as a "very small joint venture" that has "no material impact on Navistar."
The bankruptcy filing is a disappointing turn for the joint venture that was formed in 2007 and, to date, had survived despite Monaco's financial troubles. Initially CCP production was slated to be closed in Elkhart and moved to Oregon as a part of the RV maker's decision to consolidate operations in Elkhart County in 2008. Yet about a month after that announcement, Monaco said CCP would be staying and keeping nearly 50 workers with the potential to employ 100 in 2009.
Gross income from CCP had been steadily dropping from $159.9 million in fiscal year 2007 to $135.1 million in fiscal year 2008 before settling at $7.74 million part way through fiscal 2009, according to court documents.