Oregon’s Romania’s RV For Sale

Romania’s RV Center of Eugene, Ore., is for sale, according to The Register-Guard newspaper of Eugene. “We have been in the RV business for 18 years and with the shakeout in the RV industry of the last couple of years, we’ve decided that we want to focus on the auto side of our business,” said Steve Romania, CEO of Romania Enterprises. Romania told The Register-Guard that he is negotiating with three potential buyers. Romania Enterprises, which is primarily an auto dealership group,... Read more

Bryan Hays To Join Blue Bird

Well-traveled RV industry veteran Bryan Hays will join Macon, Ga.-based Blue Bird Wanderlodge on Sept. 10, according to Richard Maddox, president and CEO of Blue Bird Corp., parent of the highline motorhome builder. Hays will be director of sales and marketing at Blue Bird Wanderlodge, where he will work with Mary Hurley, sales and marketing manager. Hays held similar sales positions at Winnebago Industries Inc. during the late 1980s and at the Holiday Rambler Division of Monaco Coach Corp. during... Read more

Fleetwood’s Net Loss Narrows

Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. reported today (Aug. 30) that its first fiscal quarter net loss narrowed despite the fact its RV Group’s operating losses expanded. The company, also a major manufactured home producer, lost $11.1 million during the three months ended July 29, compared with a loss of $31.1 million incurred during the same period year earlier. However, Fleetwood’s financial performance is improving and Nelson Potter, president and CEO, said, “We currently expect to approach breakeven... Read more

Freightliner Sees “Good” Fourth Quarter

Diesel pusher chassis supplier Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. has had an up-and-down 2001, but a company executive believes the trend now is heading in an upward direction. “We started out the year strong,” said Dean Schaper, product manager for motorhome chassis for the Gaffney, S.C.-based firm. “About March, we saw it drop way off. April was slow, and May and June started to pick up. “July was good,” said Schaper, who was interviewed during the Family Motor Coach... Read more

Marshall Motors Sues Newmar Over NewAire

The company that provided sales staff support for Newmar Corp. at two European consumer shows last year has filed a $21 million breach of contract suit against Newmar. Marshall Motor Homes International Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn., provided sales staff at Newmar’s displays of its innovative NewAire motorhome during shows in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, last year. But on Aug. 17, Ross W. Marshall, principal of the firm that currently is in limbo, filed the lawsuit in federal... Read more

Coachmen Picks LegalPath Program

Coachmen Industries Inc. has agreed to use the LegalPath Internet-based software to help manage its product warranty litigation. The RV and modular home and structures builder will use LegalPath to assign many of its product warranty matters to attorneys throughout the country. “We selected LegalPath because it provides our legal department with the tools that we need to track matters, to communicate with outside counsel and to gather critical management information that will enable us to make... Read more

Rexhall Appoints CFO

Motorhome manufacturer Rexhall Industries Inc. has appointed Dawn E. Diaz its CFO. Diaz, a CPA, worked as a financial consultant to Lancaster, Calif.-based Rexhall the last several months and she also was vice president of finance for Bertelsmann Services Inc. She began her public accounting career with KMPG International.  Read More →

Spartan Intros Two New Diesel Pusher Chassis

Spartan Motors Inc. announced today (Aug. 28) that it will begin shipping two new diesel pusher motorhome chassis by the end of this year. One chassis, which Spartan President John Sztykiel calls a “coach-ready platform,” will greatly reduce the amount of chassis preparation required of motorhome OEMs. The other chassis was developed to accommodate the AuraGen, a new electromagnetic system that replaces traditional power generators. The coach-ready platform includes additional cross beams... Read more

Coachmen Books Over $80 Million in Orders

Coachmen Recreational Vehicle Co. (CRV) wrote “over $80 million in orders” during its dealer seminar in Las Vegas a month ago, the company announced today. The sizeable order volume indicates the success of CRV’s new marketing strategy of focusing its brands on the largest market segments, said Mike Terlep, president of CRV, a unit of Coachmen Industries Inc. “We’ve suspended production and discontinued models or entire lines that were not contributing to sales growth and profitability,”... Read more

Fleetwood Allies With Sam’s Club

Fleetwood’s RV Group will begin testing today (Aug. 27) a marketing alliance with the Sam’s Club subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in which Sam’s Club members will be able to buy RVs at a discounted price. The program starts today in the Indianapolis and Kansas City metro areas. It allows retail customers “to buy a new Fleetwood RV at a pre-negotiated discount, which they will purchase at a nearby participating Fleetwood RV dealership,” according to John Ables, director of marketing... Read more

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