From the category archives:
Elkhart County, Indiana, has been a poster-child for the ravages of the recession, but, now, the home of the recreational vehicle industry is making a comeback. RV sales are moving out of neutral, into first gear, and RV manufacturers are hiring again.
Source: WTTW, PBS Chicago, Illinois
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The story features the r-pod light weight travel trailer by Forest River and Damon’s Avanti motorhome.
Note – if you’re reading this in a feed reader, you’ll have to go to Haw Creek page to view the video
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A RV manufacturing industry executive says that, as a result of the recent recession, the move to lightweight RVs is probably going to be permanent.
The ”Great Recession” probably has made permanent the RV industry’s move toward lighter weight, ”greener” units, Wilbur Bontrager, Jayco Inc. chairman and CEO, told a northern Indiana television audience this weekend (April 10-11).
“I’ve been through a couple of these downturns,” Bontrager said. ”We’re seeing a lot of the same dynamics where we, along with all the other manufacturers, have gone into building lighter weight products. This time around, I believe it will stick.
”This time around, we have technology, we have materials and suppliers who can produce components that can be lighter weight and greener. In the past, this has been more difficult.”
Read the full RVBusiness article – Bontrager: Lightweight Movement Will Stick
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Roaming Times, a leading RV review and RV consumer report website has selected Earthbound RV travel trailers as the 2010 Green RV of the Year.
David B. Hoefer, Earthbound’s VP of sales and marketing said:
"We’re at the cutting edge. Instead of traditional RV-building methods, we’ve turned to experts in other fields, such as automotive and plastics…”The V-2 Earthbound being produced has already eliminated all wood and wood by-products. “Earthbound has leaped ahead with the use of composites, thermoplastics, and lightweight hybrid structural materials. We’ve been partnering with major international composite suppliers for over 8 years.”
Earthbound trailers are eco-friendly and lightweight. “We have the potential to add 11 million new customers to the towable RV buying market. Our RVs are towable with vehicles that are already parked in many of today’s family driveways.”
Read the rest of the Roaming Time’s announcement: Roaming Times’ Green RV of the Year Award 2010 – The Earthbound travel trailer.
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Airstream trailers were the stars of a Today Show segment on April 1st. While the focus was on the Airstream RVs used by celebrities, there is a good bit of Airstream background material as well.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Heartland Recreational Vehicles LLC is planning to buy and equip a 125,000 square-foot manufacturing facility for $2,6 million and create up to 265 jobs over the next 3 years. In February, the company purchased the last active towable RV trademarks from Fleetwood Enterprises Inc.
“Elkhart’s recreational vehicle industry continues to show resilience in the face of a tough national economy,” said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. “Heartland’s investment further proves that Elkhart’s traditional industries will play an equal part with emerging sectors in bringing new opportunities to this region.”
Heartland Recreational Vehicles, which employs more than 900 associates across North Central Indiana, plans to begin hiring additional manufacturing and supervisory associates immediately as the new product lines are phased in. The acquisition of the former Fleetwood brands will allow Heartland to expand into markets in the western United States.
Read the rest of Heartland’s press release at Inside Indiana Business – RV Maker Announces Expansion Project
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A post in a Seattle Times blog, nwautos, discusses four of today’s crop of small camping trailers.
If you think of travel trailers as mobile motels for the retired set, think again. Their popularity is surging among families and adventurers wanting to make the most of the road-trip destinations available in our vast and beautiful backyard.
They are cheaper than RVs, far greener, can go pretty much anywhere, and can be towed by nearly any truck or SUV and, in some cases, even small cars. This new generation of trailers is hipper, lighter and more agile than ever before.
The four camping trailers in the post are
Read the entire nwautos post: Car campers: Travel trailers are getting smaller, cooler and more multifunctional.
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The economy is loosening up and people seem to be changing the way they vacation. These, along with other factors, are resulting in improved RV sales, according to an article in the Denver Business Journal.
Recreational vehicle (RV) dealers report big sales increases, and RV show organizers say there’s been higher attendance at their events in early 2010.
The number of RV units shipped from national manufacturers to dealers rose by 116 percent from January 2009 to January 2010, from 7,300 units to 15,800, according to the Reston, Va.-based Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA). The numbers have spurred RVIA officials to predict shipments will increase 30 percent this year, a predictor of vehicle sales.
That growing interest in motorized homes and non-motorized trailers was visible at two Denver-area RV shows this year. Attendance at January’s Colorado RV Adventure Travel Show at the Colorado Convention Center rose by 24 percent over last year. And it was up 14 percent at March’s Colorado RV, Sports, Boat and Travel Show at the National Western Complex, said Vilma Fraguada, regional manager for Affinity Events, organizer of both shows.
Read the rest of the Denver Business Journal article: RV dealers expect much better sales this year
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