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VOL. 61, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2010
DEPARTMENTS 4 State of the Art
14 In Brief 53 Public Domain 50 Ad Index 56 Classifieds
30
TOP OF THE NEWS 9 Chinese Bus Builder Confirms Plans to Sell Class A Coach in U.S. 9 AGI's `The Rally' at Kentucky Exposition Center Draws 2,867 RVs
10 RVIA Reports June Shipments Reach Highest Level in Two Years 10 Chrysler Marketing Private-Label Camping Trailer Built by Livin' Lite 12 Thor's New Redwood RV Division Readies for Louisville Launch 10 NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw to Endorse EverGreen Towables
THE RVBUSINESS INTERVIEW 30 John Draheim Leads Reintroduction of Venerable Fleetwood Brand
2010 RV DEALER MEETINGS 19 Jayco Introduces New Skylark Travel Trailer, Pinnacle Fifth-Wheel 22 Gulf Stream Debuts Two New Towables at Extended Open House 26 Carriage Solstice Enters `Entry-Level' Luxury Fifth-Wheel Market
10 `GAME-CHANGING' RV SUPPLIERS 37 Acquisitions, Strong Management Key to Atwood Mobile Products 38 Recession Helped Make Blue Ox Products `Streamlined, Stronger' 39 Innovation Drives Carefree of Colorado as Leading Awning OEM 40 Cummins Maintains `Power Player' Status With High-Tech Units 41 Dicor Corp. Extends Reach, But Remains Within Core RV Industry 42 R&D, Acquisitions Propel Dometic Towards Top of Appliance Field 43 Lippert Industries' Aggressive Growth Fueled by Drew Acquisition 44 Thetford Alliance Provides Norcold With New Designs, Markets 45 Roadmaster Garners Majority Share of Market for Tow Products 46 Diversified Products Help Suburban Manufacturing in Downturn
The assembly floor at the "new" Fleetwood RV, where the company employs lean manufacturing techniques to reduce waste and lower production costs (page 30). Jayco introduced two new towable lines during its Annual Dealer Homecoming: the fifth-wheel Pinnacle and, pictured, the Skylark travel trailer (page 19).
COVER: It's said that most people can't see the forest for the trees. Not surprisingly, few can look at a finished vehicle and appreciate the work of the suppliers who contributed to it. In this issue, we've taken a look at 10 `game-changing' suppliers who, while sometimes overlooked, have contributed
substantially to the overall health and evolution of the RV industry. All are highly reputable firms with solid market shares in their respective product categories. Photo by Shawn Spence.
RV Business (ISSN 0744-9569) is published bimonthly by TL Enterprises, 2575 Vista Del Mar Drive, Ventura, CA 93001. Periodicals postage is paid at Ventura, CA 93001 and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rates: Subscriptions in U.S. and Canada are $79 for 1 year. Subscriptions outside the U.S. and Canada are $129 for 1 year. Single copies are $15 each. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RV Business, PO Box 5858, Harlan, IA 51593-1358. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Call (866) 238-3237 or email rvbcustserv @. Publication Sales Agreement No. 1938495. Canadian return address: Affinity Group, Inc., 2575 Vista Del Mar Drive, Ventura, CA 93001. RV Business is copyrighted 2010 by TL Enterprises, Inc., in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and other countries. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint or quote excerpts granted only upon written request. Advertising rates are provided on request. TL Enterprises also publishes Trailer Life, MotorHome, Camping Life, Trailer Life's Campground/RV Park Services Directory and Highways for the Good Sam Club.
J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 0 RVBusiness 3
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BY SHERMAN GOLDENBERG
STATE OF THE ART
A Historic Moment in the West Chicago Suburbs with Navistar International and Monaco RV
STAFF
VP/RV TRADE PUBLICATIONS Sherman Goldenberg EDITOR Bruce Hampson ART DIRECTOR Mirante Almazan SENIOR EDITOR Bob Ashley MIDWEST EDITOR Steve Bibler EDITOR AT LARGE Jeff Crider PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Shawn Spence CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITOR Chris Hemer PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Bob Dawson
SENIOR ADVERTISING
PRODUCTION MANAGER Brenda Hutchinson PREPRESS SPECIALIST Gerald Vandiver IMAGE EDITOR Robert Peterson ASSISTANT CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Jill Anderson FULFILLMENT MANAGER Denise Vigstol
M and Navistar International Corp. brought dealers and the industry press together July 28 and 29 for the first Monaco Dealer Congress since the Coburg, Ore., motorized and towable RV manufacturer was purchased and renamed last year by the nation's largest truck maker. And with the senior managements of both companies in attendance Thursday at Navistar's mas-
sive Melrose Park Engine Plant in the west Chicago suburbs, the two companies unveiled their first collaborative effort -- the 32- and 35-foot 2011 Monaco Vesta Class A motorhome.
We'll tell you more about that meeting and the Vesta -- which will also be marketed as the Holiday Rambler Trip -- in our next issue due to deadline considerations. But we can say that this meeting in our view was yet another historic moment -- not only because the Vesta brings together Monaco's considerable motorized RV legacy and Navistar's world-class truck industry technology in a sleek front-engine coach with a low center of gravity, airbag suspension and tapered rear section that could well capture the eye of the modern North American motorhome enthusiast. And not only because the $195,000 Vesta, built on a proprietary 26,000-pound GVWR Monaco Roadmaster chassis equipped with a 260-hp Maxxforce 7 engine that could get up to 18 mpg, represents the new familial look and design cues of a new wave of Navistar/Monaco-spawned motorhomes. Of equal significance to the industry at large is that it means that yet another proud American brand name is obstinantly fighting its way back from the precipice of the Great Recession. And while some companies and individuals were clearly hurt in the recession in general and in particular by Monaco Coach Corp.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the fact of the matter is that we should all take heart as an industry in this recent turn of events and in the rebirth of the Monaco brand, just as we applaud the renaissance of the Fleetwood nameplate in this same issue. More later.
? ? ? When the smoke clears from this crazy year and we can all sit back and reflect on
2010, maybe we'll all realize just how much of a public relations coup this whole RV Industry Centennial promotion was (see page 18) because it gave the industry a chance to publicly crow about it's past and longevity and modern products and current market resurgence while licking its wounds from one of the most daunting downturns in U.S. history. And, hey, that's how it's supposed to work. PR Week, a leading public relations trade journal, recognized all that in its June 16 edition. Kudos to RVIA and its agency, Barton Gilanelli & Associates, the Philadelphia-based advertising/PR firm that just marked its 20th year with RVIA.
TL ENTERPRISES INC.
CHAIRMAN Stephen Adams PRESIDENT & CEO Michael Schneider SENIOR VP/CFO Tom Wolfe
VP/PUBLISHER/
RV CONSUMER & TRADE PUBLICATIONS Bob Livingston VP/CONTROLLER Dale Hendrix
VP/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
OF GOOD SAM CLUB Susan Bray VP/TL DATABASE PUBLISHING Joe Daquino
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF
CLUB & PUBLICATIONS MARKETING Ken Hurd CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER EMERITUS Art Rouse
EDITORIAL/BUSINESS OFFICE
2575 Vista Del Mar Drive, Ventura, CA 93001 (805) 667-4100; Fax: (805) 667-4484; rvb@
ADVERTISING
VP/RV ADVERTISING SALES Terry Thompson CLASSIFIED Sue Seidlitz (Mgr.), Joyce Reweda BUSINESS MANAGER Denielle Sternburg
ADVERTISING SALES
P.O. Box 8510, Ventura, CA 93002-9912 (805)667-4100; Fax: (805) 667-4379 Elkhart, Indiana MIDWEST SALES DIRECTOR Chuck Lasley 2300 Middlebury St., Elkhart, IN 46516 (574) 295-7820; Fax: (574) 522-0418 ADVERTISING SALES Tacy Hendershot-Sargent (772) 288-0387; Fax: (772) 288-0085 ADVERTISING SALES Lou Cicirelli (954) 723-0565; Fax: (954) 339-0825 Seattle, Washington ADVERTISING SALES Scott Oakes, John Marciano 1818 Westlake Ave., Seattle, WA 98109 (206) 283-9545, fax (206) 283-9571 Automotive Accounts CROMPTON HOLDINGS Scott Crompton 9595 Mansfield Road Sheveport, LA 71118 (334) 613-2040, fax: (334) 356-7740
As Vice President of RV Trade Publications for TL Enterprises Inc., Sherman Goldenberg, based in Elkhart, Ind., oversees RV Business & Woodall's Campground Management.
4 RVBusiness J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 0
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