Posts Tagged ‘Navistar’

Prior to the recession, Winnebago Industries and the current Monaco RV were giants among motorhome manufacturers. But high fuel prices followed by the crash of the housing market left the entire motorized segment of the RV industry — including Winnebago and Monaco — stalled on the side of the road.

At the 49th Annual National RV Trade Show, both companies have been showcasing their plans for re-establishing themselves in the market. They are confident the recreational vehicles they have on display will resonate with retail customers and create new jobs in their Elkhart County, Ind., factories.

New Towable Line for Winnebago

Winnebago has chosen to return to producing towables after a 30-year absence while Monaco is drawing upon the components and expertise available from its new owner, Navistar International Corp.

While standing in the new Winnebago brand travel trailer, Fred Hershberger, national sales manager, expressed his company’s self-assurance.

“If you can dream it, you can build it,” he said. “We can do anything we want to do.”

New Winnebago Travel Trailers & Fifth Wheels

Innovation, Quality & Customer Service Focus for Monaco

Since the summer of 2009, when Monaco Coach Corp. was bought out of bankruptcy by Navistar and renamed Monaco RV, production has returned to the once-closed plant in Wakarusa, Ind. This summer, the Indiana operation was given a boost when Navistar announced it was consolidating motorhome production from Oregon to Wakarusa and creating about 400 new jobs.

Although it is a smaller company trying to regain market share, Monaco has the advantage of the Navistar name and experience, Crews said. Monaco motorhomes, in particular, are built with a Navistar engine on a Roadmaster (a Navistar subsidiary) chassis.

“We are the only manufacturer in the world that builds the engine, the chassis and the house,” Crews said. “We’re not a house builder. We’re a motorhome builder.”

To grow, the company has chosen to focus on innovation, customer service and quality, Crews said. Customers have a “Lexus mentality,” meaning they want the RVs to function properly, which makes quality especially important.

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In what could amount to a major breaking news story for the U.S. RV industry, China’s Yutong Bus Co. Ltd. has invited RV industry suppliers to a ‘’special meeting” next Tuesday (Aug. 3) in Elkhart to discuss the ”planned introduction of a new series of Class A motorhomes.”

The invitation notes that there will be an introduction of the company, including a descriptive outline of the company’s products, a presentation on issues related to the international supply chain (payment, packaging, documentation, freight costs, timeline, etc.) and the importance of U.S. suppliers.

Private meetings will be scheduled for the remainder of the week, according to the invitation.
While there was no description of the new line in the invitation, a four-page spec sheet termed the ”original wish list” was included. It noted that the unnamed fiberglass-and-aluminum motorhome will have 28- to 30-foot floorplans on 22,000-pound GVWR chassis equipped with 250/280-hp Cummins or Navistar diesel engines.

Amenities will include solid-surface countertops, leather sofas and swivel rockers.
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