The Coast Distribution System, Inc. Adopts Cash Dividend Policy

The Coast Distribution System, Inc. (AMEX: CRV), one of North America's largest suppliers of aftermarket replacement parts, accessories and supplies for the recreational vehicle (RV) and marine industries, announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a dividend policy that calls for the payment of an expected total annual cash dividend of $0.16 per common share, payable in the amount of $0.04 per share per quarter. At the same time, the Board of Directors also declared the first of the quarterly cash dividends under this policy, of $0.04 per share, which will be paid on March 15, 2005 to stockholders of record on February 23, 2005.

"We are committed to enhancing stockholder value and believe that a regular quarterly dividend program is consistent with that objective because it provides a way of returning some of the cash flow generated by our business to our stockholders," said Thomas R. McGuire, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The actual declaration of future cash dividends, and the establishment of dividend record and payment dates, is subject to final determination by the Board of Directors each quarter after its review of the Company's financial performance and its available cash resources, its cash requirements and alternative uses of cash that the Board may conclude would represent an opportunity to generate a greater return on investment for the Company. Also, it could become necessary for Coast to obtain the consent of its lender under its secured bank loan agreement in order to pay cash dividends pursuant to its new dividend policy. For these reasons, as well as others, there can be no assurance that the Company's future dividends will in fact be equal or similar to the amounts described in this press release or that this new dividend policy will not be changed by the Board of Directors in the future.

Coachmen Industries, Inc. Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend

Coachmen Industries, Inc. (NYSE: COA) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a $0.06 per share regular quarterly dividend. The dividend will be distributed on March 29, 2005 to shareholders of record as of March 8, 2005. This is the 90th consecutive quarter that Coachmen Industries has paid dividends. The $0.06 rate is unchanged from the last quarter. Coachmen Industries has approximately 15.7 million shares of common stock outstanding.

Coachmen Industries, Inc. is one of America's leading manufacturers of recreational vehicles, systems-built homes and commercial buildings, with prominent subsidiaries in each industry. The Company's well-known RV brand names include COACHMEN®, GEORGIE BOY™, SPORTSCOACH® and VIKING®. Through ALL AMERICAN HOMES®, Coachmen is one of the nation's largest producers of systems-built homes, and also a major builder of commercial structures with its ALL AMERICAN BUILDING SYSTEMS™ and MILLER BUILDING SYSTEMS™ products. Prodesign, LLC, produces custom composite and thermoformed plastic parts for numerous industries under the PRODESIGN® brand. Coachmen Industries, Inc. is a publicly held company with stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker COA.

Spartan Motors Fourth Quarter and 2004 Results

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Spartan Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAR) has announced a 31.5 percent increase in fourth quarter net sales, but lower net earnings due to higher material costs and strategic investments at its emergency vehicle subsidiaries.

The Charlotte, Mich.-based manufacturer of custom motorhome chassis, fire truck chassis and emergency-rescue vehicles reported net earnings of $395,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, on net sales of $80.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2004, versus net earnings of $1.3 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, on net sales of $61.1 million for the same quarter of last year.

Spartan said its quarterly sales were driven by market share gains at its Spartan Chassis subsidiary, which makes motorhome and fire truck chassis. However, higher sales in the quarter were offset by increased material costs at Spartan Chassis and continued production inefficiencies at its Emergency Vehicle Team (EVTeam) companies - Crimson Fire and Road Rescue. Spartan said its transition of production at Crimson Fire from its Alabama facility to its South Dakota headquarters, coupled with a move into a new building, as well as increased production costs at Road Rescue due to the need to outsource some manufacturing to meet customer delivery schedules, led to the net earnings decline in the fourth quarter. For the year ended December 31, 2004, Spartan reported earnings from continuing operations grew 32.5 percent to $5.9 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, on net sales of $312.3 million, versus earnings from continuing operations of $4.4 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, on net sales of $237.4 million in 2003. Including the one-time gain in 2003 from its discontinued Carpenter school bus unit, Spartan posted net earnings of $6.0 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, in 2003.

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"Looking at last year, we are pleased with our top-line growth, but clearly disappointed in our earnings performance as our strategic investments, while critical to our future, were more costly than expected," said John Sztykiel, president and CEO of Spartan Motors. "I am, though, pleased with the platform we've created, as shown by our record backlog of $117.6 million. We now have a full-line fire truck company with the addition of Crimson Fire Aerials, and the capacity for growth thanks to our new Crimson Fire facility. We have Road Rescue moving in the right direction from both a leadership and operations perspective, and we see the true potential of Spartan in our most mature business, Spartan Chassis, where our product development efforts led to strong sales growth and market share gains."

Sztykiel added: "While our fourth quarter mirrored our year in terms of production challenges overshadowing our positive sales momentum, we were intent on completing all the transition moves and related one-time costs in the quarter with a look toward 2005 as our breakout year." Fourth Quarter 2004 Results

Spartan reported that consolidated gross margin declined from the prior year period, driven by the continued higher cost of steel as well as production constraints at Crimson Fire and Road Rescue. Gross margin was 11.9 percent in the 2004 fourth quarter, compared to 14.9 percent for the same period in 2003 and 12.2 percent in the third quarter of 2004. Spartan said steel surcharges accounted for a reduction in pre-tax earnings of more than $900,000, or $0.07 pre-tax per share, during the 2004 fourth quarter and $2.8 million, or $0.22 per share, of pre-tax earnings for 2004.

"We have been able to pass some of our material cost increases on to customers and have worked successfully with several of our suppliers during the fourth quarter to reduce the steel price impact," said Chief Financial Officer Jim Knapp. "Based on our model year pricing in the RV chassis business as well as our long lead times in fire trucks and emergency vehicles, we expect to recapture more of the steel price surcharges during the first quarter in emergency vehicles and in the third quarter of 2005 in RVs."

Total operating expenses increased on a dollar basis, but declined as a percentage of sales from 11.9 percent in 2003 to 10.8 percent in the 2004 fourth quarter. SG&A (selling, general and administrative) expense as a percentage of sales declined to 8.1 percent in the period versus 9.2 percent last year. Spartan Chassis

Sales at Spartan Chassis grew by 36.1 percent in the fourth quarter, driven by a 56.0 percent increase in RV chassis sales. Spartan said market share gains, coupled with overall growth in Class A diesel-powered RVs as a percentage of total motorhome sales, helped it far outpace moderate growth in the market segment during the fourth quarter. Spartan posted its best-ever year of RV chassis sales, recording a 52.2 percent increase in 2004 over the prior year.

"We had a banner fourth quarter and full year in RV chassis sales, as our combination of innovation and quality helped us toward our goal of becoming the most desired brand among OEMs and RV consumers," said Sztykiel. "Looking ahead, we expect continued, though less aggressive, growth buoyed by a solid RV market and our ability to win market share with new and existing customers."

Fire truck chassis sales declined modestly in the fourth quarter reflecting a slower bid season in the summer of 2004, the time when Spartan secures orders for fourth quarter production. Despite the decline, Spartan's fire truck chassis business grew 15.5 percent for the year on the strength of new products such as its Gladiator Evolution and Big Easy and growing brand preference among end-user fire departments.

"We saw the slow summer bid season of 2004 result in lower fourth quarter sales, but we are pleased by our better-than-market growth for the year," said Sztykiel. "In 2005, we expect more growth in our fire truck business, particularly in the second half of the year based on current bid activity and our best-ever quarter of orders in the fourth quarter."