RV Industry News
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| March 2003 | Volume 28 - Number 8 | |
RV Industry News | ||
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Dutchmen Breaks Ground on New Production Facility Dutchmen Manufacturing broke ground
last month on a 98,000 sq.-ft. building
project in Goshen, Indiana. Accompanying
Richard Florea, president of Dutchmen
Manufacturing for the ground breaking ceremony
was Steve Paul, vice president of
sales, Jeff Newport, vice president of manufacturing,
Mark Schwartzhoff, vice president
of finance, Wes Graff, president of the
Goshen Chamber of Commerce and Randy
Huffman, president of Nuway Construction.
The new plant will accommodate the
increased demand for Dutchmen’s laminated
fifth wheel and travel trailers that are
sold under the Dutchmen, Four Winds, and
Colorado brand names.
According to Florea, “Dealer demand for
our laminated fifth wheel products has
been strong over the last year. This new
facility will allow us to increase production
on these products as well as free up manufacturing
space at our other Goshen area
plants.”
Approximately two hundred new
employees will be hired within the next six
months to staff the new facility. Dutchmen
operates seven other manufacturing plants
in Goshen, Middlebury, and Syracuse,
Indiana. The new facility is expected to be
operational by early summer.
Nuway Construction, a design/build
general contractor located in Goshen, was
chosen for the project. The new plant is
located on land adjacent to existing
Dutchmen facilities. Phase two of the project
includes the construction of a new
office building that will house Dutchmen’s
executive staff, sales and marketing departments
and conference and training facilities.
Construction is scheduled to begin on
phase two by spring.
Florea also added, "We would like to
thank Wes Graff and the Goshen Chamber
of Commerce for their support and assistance
on this project. This is a central location
to all of our Northern Indiana plants.
It gives us the space we need for immediate
production and provides flexibility for
future expansion.”
Dutchmen Manufacturing, Inc. is a
subsidiary of Thor Industries. Dutchmen
Manufacturing, Inc. is the manufacturer of
Dutchmen, Four Winds, Colorado, Aerolite,
and Skamper towable brands of recreational
vehicles. DTI Opening New York Location
Trey Miller, VP Sales & Marketing commented,
"We selected Albany, New York as
the home for our newest location to provide
the largest number of dealers in the Northeast
with 24 hour delivery. The opening of
this warehouse is a major step in our current
nationwide expansion focusing on
faster delivery times, higher fill rates and
overall customer service and support. We
have had a strong relationship with dealers
in the Northeast for over 20 years and are
positioning DTI to be the parts distributor
of choice for years to come."
DTI is the largest specialized distributor
of parts to the Recreational Vehicle
Industry. DTI is headquartered in
Middlebury, Indiana and currently has
warehouse locations across the country.
For further information please contact
Trey Miller 1-800-289-0919 Ext. 309 or
trey@dtiparts.com Jayco Stops Class A Production
Jayco entered the Class A motorhome
market with the introduction of the
AVATAR diesel-powered motorhomes and
the Firenza gasoline-powerred motorhomes
in 2001. Bontrager said, “Despite our best
efforts, we realize that our current Class A
motorhome offering is not positioned to
take full advantage of the Jayco name and
reputation in the marketplace. Therefore, it
has become necessary for us to downsize
our motorhome operations and significantly
reduce our cost structures,”
Bontrager said, “While we evaluate our
position in the Class A motorhome market,
we will focus our attention on the Class C
motorhome market segment, where we are
already a major player.” In the latest available
industry statistics, Jayco is the sixth
largest producer of Class C motorhomes, in
unit volume.
Jayco, Inc., headquartered in
Middlebury, IN is one of the nation’s largest
privately held manufacturers of recreation
vehicles. The company makes and markets
RVs under the Qwest, Eagle, Designer,
Designer Legacy, Kiwi, Kiwi Too, Escapade,
Greyhawk and Granite Ridge brand names. Lazydays’ Sales Revenues Increase 23.7% in 2002
“We made significant progress in 2002
toward achieving our goal of a billion dollars
in annual sales” said Lazydays founder and
CEO, Don Wallace. “Our employee partners
are the key to our success. Each day they
focus on our company purpose of making
customers for life and search for ways to
add value to the Lazydays experience.” Winnebago Named Top Selling Motorhome For 2nd Year
For the second consecutive year,
Winnebago Industries dealers retailed more
Class A and C motor homes combined than
anyone else in the industry; selling 10,753
motor homes in calendar 2002 for 20.4 percent
market share. This is a 7.4 percent
market share increase from the Company's
results in calendar 2001.
Winnebago Industries was also the top
selling Class C manufacturer during calendar
2002 and for each of the last five years,
accounting for 26.0 percent of the Class C
market nationwide. Winnebago Industries
manufactures three Class C motor home
brands: Winnebago, which includes the
Vista, Minnie and Minnie Winnie models;
Itasca, which includes the Sunstar, Spirit
and Sundancer models; and the Rialta.
The Company's Winnebago brand motor
homes were also recognized as the top selling
Class A and Class C brand during calendar
2002, outselling every other Class A and
C brand in the United States. The
Winnebago brand has been the top selling
Class A brand for each of the last five years.
Winnebago brand Class A's include the
Sightseer, Brave, Adventurer, Chieftain,
Journey and Journey DL. In Class C's, the
Winnebago brand has been the top selling
brand for the last two consecutive years.
"We were extremely pleased to complete
calendar 2002 in the number one position
for Class A and C motor homes combined
for the second consecutive year," said Roger
Martin, Winnebago Industries' vice president
of sales and marketing. "This success was
the result of the excellent acceptance of our
motor homes, as well as our proven partnerships
with our network of dedicated and
professional, full-service dealers, the recognition
of our well-known Winnebago brand
name, and our reputation as a high quality
motor home manufacturer, as well as the
commitment and hard work of our dedicated
employees." Elixir Founder Dies Roland R. Sahm, founder of Elixir
Industries, passed away January 25, 2003
at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, California.
He was 85. He is survived by his wife,
Ramona, his son, three grandsons, and
three great-grandchildren.
Sahm was born in 1917 in Boulder,
Colorado. After marrying there in 1937, he
and his bride, Ramona A. Sahm, set out for
California. After several failed business
attempts, Sahm started a company that is
still thriving today. Roland formed Elixir
Industries in 1948 and, through years of
hard work and perseverance, built the corporation
into one of the largest privately
held companies in California. He took the
company public in 1969 and bought it back
in 1982. Through the 1980's and 1990's
Roland guided the corporation into a
vibrant, diversified and profitable company.
Today, 55 years after its founding, Elixir has
more than 1,200 employees among 17 manufacturing locations in 12 states. Roland
Sahm was an integral part of Elixir's operations
until the day he passed away.
Along with Elixir's manufacturing operations,
Roland loved the outdoors, golfing,
the horse races, a good poker game, and
especially his morning walk around his
Rancho Santa Fe property. His competitive,
kind and humorous spirits were constant
reminders of a man who loved life.
Sahm's vision and realization of a successful
business will continue to guide Elixir
Industries into the future under the leadership
of his grandson, Christopher A. Sahm,
president since 2002. Roland R. Sahm will
be dearly missed; his legacy will continue. Fleetwood RV Named No. 1 Class A
Motor Home Manufacturer Fleetwood RV, the nation’s leader in
recreational vehicle sales, held the top position
in retail sales of Class A motor homes
in 2002. According to the 2002 year-end
industry market share report from
Statistical Surveys, Inc., Fleetwood dealers
retailed 7,692 Class A motor homes
(January 2002 through December 2002),
which was a 20.6% increase from its unit
retail sales in 2001. This equates to a
10.8% increase in market share from 2001
to 2002.
Tom Walworth, President of Statistical
Surveys Inc., said, "Fleetwood RV was the
top manufacturer of Class A motor homes
nationwide in calendar year 2002 with
7,692 retailed units. Winnebago Industries
came in second with 6,713 Class A motor
homes retailed and Monaco Coach Corp. finished
third with 6,683 Class A motor homes
retailed in 2002."
"Fleetwood’s motor home group was our
star performer in 2002," said John
Draheim, Vice President
of Sales and Marketing
– Fleetwood RV.
"According to the yearend
Stat Survey report,
the Class A industry is
up 8.9% and Fleetwood
RV is up 20.6%.
Obviously we are
thrilled to be out-performing
the industry.
Fleetwood’s Class A gas
segment is up 14.6%
over 2001 with 4,838
units retailed. Our
biggest gain was in the diesel segment with
2002 unit sales of 2,846, which is an
increase of 32.7% over 2001. We attribute a
good part of our success in the diesel market
to the three new diesel brands that were
introduced in 2002: Providence, Excursion
and Revolution. The other key to our success
in 2002 was an outstanding network of
professional dealers who are committed to
satisfying customers’ needs." Filon® Now Using Corona Treatment Kemlite Company Inc., a Crane Co.
Company, announces that corona treating
equipment has been added to the
Jonesboro, Arkansas, facility where Filon®
RV panels are produced. All Filon panels
will now come standard with corona treatment
during the production process.
Corona treatment is a method of electrically
treating the backside of Filon panels to
provide a significantly lower surface tension
which results in a stronger lamination bond
between the Filon panel and substrate. The
benefits of corona treatment to customers
include increased bonding strength,
increased bonding efficiency, and reduced
delamination warranty expense.
Jim Simmons, Vice President Sales and
Marketing states: "We all know that being a
good supplier also means being a good listener.
Kemlite saw the need in the RV
industry for an exterior fiberglass finish that
would offer greater bond strength once laminated.
We did our research and discovered
the best way to satisfy this need is corona
treating the backside of all Filon panels".
Kemlite Company is the worlds largest
manufacturer of fiberglass reinforced plastic
panels. For more information on products
manufactured by Kemlite, visit www.kemlite.
com or call 815-467-8600.
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