Airxcel Visits Elkhart; Promotes New A.C. Entry

Wichita, Kan.-based RV industry supplier Airxcel Inc. set up shop this week (Feb. 13-16) in Coast Distribution System Inc.’s Husky Towing Products Research, Design & Training facility on the east side of the RV-building center of Elkhart, Ind., to present their 2012 product lines to northern Indiana RV manufacturers. “It gives us an opportunity to get product managers, product development people, owners and procurement people together all at once, which is great,” reports Pierre Briglio,... Read more

Detroit Show May Signal Positive Things to Come

Traffic was steady at the Detroit Camper & RV Show If the 46th Annual Detroit Camper & RV Show was any indication, the RV industry could be on the brink of a significant turnaround. That was certainly the buzz on Sunday (Feb. 12), the finale of the Detroit Show, held Feb. 8-12 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in the Detroit suburb of Novi. The Detroit Show was literally packed with buyers and prospects to the extent that people couldn’t get through the aisles in many cases. And, as... Read more

Elkhart Open House Week’s Set for Sept. 18-20

Thor's Open House display at Hall of Fame North America’s two largest RV manufacturers, Thor Industries Inc. and Forest River Inc., jointly announced today (Feb. 10) that Elkhart County’s 5th Annual RV Open House Week will be held Sept. 18-20 throughout the northern Indiana RV-building center. Both companies are planning to locate their product displays in the same locations as last year’s Open House, which drew more than 3,000 U.S. and Canadian dealer personnel to the streets, factories... Read more

Industry Panel Visiting Indianapolis Next Week

Indiana Convention Center Literally days after the city of Indianapolis proved to the world that a mid-size Midwestern city like Indy could professionally host a world-class event like Super Bowl XLVI, a delegation of RV industry people will be visiting the Hoosier State capitol next week (Feb. 13-17) to gather information regarding a possible relocation from Louisville, Ky., of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s (RVIA) National RV Trade Show, RVBUSINESS.com has learned. While virtually... Read more

Martin’s Mission: Maintain Thor’s Industry Edge

Bob Martin Yesterday’s (Jan. 31) news that Keystone RV Co. President Bob Martin, an 18-year industry veteran born and raised in the RV-building center of Elkhart, Ind., is stepping up Feb. 1 as RV group president of Thor Industries Inc. surely wasn’t a surprise to a lot of rank-and-file employees of Thor, the world’s largest RV manufacturer. Nor was it probably a revelation to Thor’s competitors that Martin was named to the top job at publicly held Thor – a Jackson Center, Ohio, firm that... Read more

Camping World Adding 11 New U.S. Stores in 1Q

Camping World Inc. is charting a course of aggressive growth in the first quarter of 2012, reports Marcus Lemonis, CEO of Camping World Inc. and its Good Sam Enterprises LLC subsidiary. New Camping World stores, most combining rolling stock and aftermarket parts and accessories, are slated to open in a wide variety of U.S. locales in the year’s first quarter – bringing the Lincolnshire, Ill.-based company’s total store count to 85. Some of these new stores, Lemonis told RVBUSINESS.com,... Read more

Stag-Parkway Enjoys Healthy Turnout for Confab

Stag-Parkway Inc. President and CEO Martin Street kicked off the first full day of the Atlanta-based distributor’s “Stag 2012 Vegas” dealer show at The Mirage this morning (Jan. 17) with a rousing welcome to the largest assemblage for the event — up 12% over last year — since 2006. Most in attendance, in fact, were wondering if the strong showing of more than 500 dealerships was indeed a signal of an economic turnaround in 2012. “If nothing else, 2011 was... Read more

2011 RVB Newsmaker of the Year: RV Open House

Forest River's expansive display at the RV Open House Editor’s Note: Annually at year-end, RVBusiness magazine combs the archives and selects the “RVB Newsmaker of the Year” along with nine other stories that captured headlines and impacted the industry. The following is an abbreviated version of RVB’s article identifying the top newsmakers in 2011 that will appear in the January-February edition. Taking all of 2011 into account, considering all that went on during a crazy year for... Read more

A Big Change Afoot for Three National Shows?

Supplier exhibits at RVIA’s Louisville Show The industry’s quest for a more logical, efficient and timely approach to national trade shows could well lead to the consolidation of all three key current industry events as soon as 2013, RVBUSINESS.com has learned. Much of the buzz among trade groups and key manufacturers like Thor Industries Inc., based in Jackson Center, Ohio, and Forest River Inc., headquartered in Elkhart, Ind., centers around a relatively early fall date in a centrally located... Read more

Revised Equine Motorcoach Bows at Louisville

Equine Motorcoach A second generation version of a unique motorhome built specifically for transporting horses — the Equine Motorcoach Class A — made its first national show appearance at RVIA’s 49th Annual National RV Trade Show, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 in Louisville, Ky. Originally built by a British company in a Hungarian factory, the more moderately priced, reengineered current model results from an exclusive domestic manufacturing agreement involving northern Indiana’s Renegade Custom... Read more

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