Mad Money

CEO of country's largest RV maker says company is finding ways to 'counteract' tariff pressures

Key Points
  • CNBC's Jim Cramer sits down with Thor Industries CEO Bob Martin as shares of his RV maker hover near year-to-date lows.
  • Martin tells the "Mad Money" host that Thor is finding ways to manage despite rising costs.

Thor Industries' warning about rising tariff-related costs in its third-quarter earnings report sent shares plunging to 2018 lows, but CEO Bob Martin told CNBC on Thursday that the company is finding ways to blunt the impact.

"We thought it'd be minimal," the CEO admitted in a "Mad Money" interview with Jim Cramer. "Today, they're still kind of all over the board and we're just finding ways to kind of counteract them whenever we can."

For Thor, the United States' largest recreational vehicle manufacturer, that means cutting raw costs and "de-contenting," or taking certain ancillary products and features out of its higher end RVs.

Thor's stock has been under pressure since the Trump administration enacted steel and aluminum tariffs in May, which hike Thor's costs by stymieing cheap imports.

"We still don't know exactly where they're going, but we're a very reactive company," Martin told Cramer. "We're still very optimistic that we can keep it to a minimal effect."

Like RV manufacturer Camping World Holdings, Martin said the weather also weighed on Thor's third-quarter results.

"I know not everybody loves to hear 'weather,' but for us, it has been a factor. And when you have snow March, April, May ... these are factors for our industry," he said. "Since … May, actually, and June, we picked up. Retail has picked up. So we're getting a very good vibe from the dealers on a lot of the product."

Shares of Thor closed at $98.50 a share on Thursday, up 0.01 percent for the day. The stock's 52-week high was $161.48.

Watch Bob Martin's full interview here:

CEO of country's largest RV maker says company is finding ways to 'counteract' tariff pressures
VIDEO7:5407:54
CEO of country's largest RV maker says company is finding ways to 'counteract' tariff pressures

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