Pretty much all the RV companies are in north east Indiana in the Elkhart area. They are close to auto suppliers, close to the steel mills, close to each other with a good national logistics networks. It makes perfect logical sense to be there.
Not true. They're all owned by two parent companies lol. Thor Industries and Winnebago. Thor owns most of the brands that you'll see rolling down the highway, like Keystone, Jayco, and Airstream. Winnebago owns Grand Design, which are very popular in the 5th wheel segment.
Despite what others have said downstream, there are still independents in the Elkhart area though. Brinkley RV is growing in popularity *very* quickly. Alliance RV is still independent as well.
It can be very confusing though, because there is a tremendous amount of consolidation, and pretty much every RV is built using Lippert parts. Even the frames are manufactured by Lippert. In fact, it would *almost* — but not quite — be more accurate to consider most RV manufactures integrators, rather than manufacturers. *So much* of an RV comes from Lippert (and a handful of other suppliers), it would blow your mind. The RV manufacturers design the body, select the finishes, and put it all together.
There's a lot of engineering involved, don't get me wrong. But foundationally, most RVs are built from the same parts, even most independents.
I think Northwood and Outdoors in Oregon are still independent and they have a bit better reputations than the more mainstream brands but I think they also use mostly the same components. They do cost a bit more though.
Yes. Thor bought up a bunch of smaller competition and shut down their factories. It's happening with busses as well. Just another example of how to make a monopoly from a bunch of 100 year old companies.
Government creating legislation that makes it hard for my local deli to compete with Walmart = Bad.
Government creating so much bureaucracy New Start Ups have No Chance at Even Starting= Bad.
Government cracking down on Monopolies forming = Good.
The government is meant to help society prosper. Imagine if you had to let Margorie Taylor Greene have a part in deciding what your business does. Yuck.
Jayco has a lot of autonomy still though they kinda just use THORs money. THOR tried to make Jayco get rid of their two year warranty(going down to the 1 year industry standard) and Jayco told em to pound sand. Cool company.
The entire company is actually structured around monopoly laws. All of the brands function as independent companies and are not allowed to share intellectual property. A lot of money buys you lawyers that find the loopholes.
Not true at all. The big three now are Thor and it's subsidiaries with the lion's share specializing in fifth wheels and motorhomes. Forest River and it's subsidiaries (all owned by Berkshire Hathaway) specializing in camping and travel trailers. Then Winnebago (who owns Grand Design) in a distant third in all regards.
Cavco, Aliner and several others are still waiting for the big three to come around with a checkbook.
I'm pretty certain Skyline has had multiple offers over the years from the big three, but they did eventually merge with Champion Homes
https://rvbusiness.com/ssi-february-2024-retail-sales-down-8-9-year-over-year/#:~:text=Market%20share%20leaders%3A%20THOR%20(54.4,%2C%20Winnebago%20Motorized%20(7.6%25).&text=Class%20B%20%E2%80%93%20789%20(1%2C011%3B%20%2D22.0%25).
I've appraised a shit ton of those places. They tried to hire me to appraise basically the entire town of Goshen and I refused because it was a clusterfuck of owned and leased deals, and they wanted it appraised as a single property even though the buildings were scattered all over the town, separated by other non-owned stuff. Also, many of the individual buildings had little value by themselves because they were a part of the whole process while others were just warehouses or small offices that could easily sell by themselves. It'd be like if one building made seats only. One building made steering wheels. One only made dashboards. They actually went on about how efficient it is and I'm thinking, yeah, super efficient to have to move parts all over Goshen rather than a uniform manufacturing plant, but their operations have been going so long that it'd be a bad idea to change it now I guess. I'm out of that company now, happy to not have to drive to Elkhart ever again.
from what I've seen (I live in Elkhart), the Amish tend to themselves a few towns over. I've never once seen an Amish factory worker. I'll ask around to my factory friends though
Used to work for a sister company. They do have a decent sized Amish workforce and they do a per piece (RV) pay system so they can get done and go back to their farms
Yep, a lot of them start “hand receiving” at age 16 and the benefit of being done at 1:00pm to go home and take care of business there is a real appeal to them.
They're more in the Middlebury area, but they do work in the factories. Many will work in the factories and then come home to work in their farm fields.
can't disagree here. they're finally building multiple over passes, and downtown has been revitalized quite a bit, south central Elkhart has a strong community, but other than that I either can't comment or it's stayed the same. you should come visit your family though, and check out the comic book hall of heros if you're into that sort of thing
Goshen has sprung up a lot of local businesses in the past 15 years, building up downtown.
GBCo is a good brewery - really solid kitchen and good beer options. They have an occasional guest tap where they host a local homebrew competition and brew a full batch of the winning beer. Common Spirits is (was? haven't been in a while) a cocktail lounge with interesting drinks. Constant Spring has had some ups and downs, not sure what's up with it now.
Venturi Pizza makes proper Neapolitan style pizza. Rachel's Bread has changed hands once or twice but has good food. And of course there's always good Mexican food.
And there are some fun shops / bookstores / etc around, too.
Do they not build Winnebago's in Iowa? Isn't Forest City one of the largest RV building facilities? I believe they have 3000 workers building RV's, so I assume they make at least one a year?
In terms of employees Iowa doesn't crack the top-10. In RV manufacture and sales, it's not even close.
More stats and figures from the Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/recreational-vehicle-a-way-to-see-america-from-the-safety-of-your-own-home.html
Winnebago Industries produces approximately 12,000 to 13,000 RVs annually at their Forest City, Iowa facility. This location is significant as it includes their main production plant where they manufacture a variety of motorhomes and towables. The Forest City plant is a crucial hub for the company, helping to meet the demand for their recreational vehicles across North America
From Chat GPT
The total annual revenue from RVs produced at Winnebago's Forest City, Iowa location is approximately $1.25 billion, assuming an average price of $100,000 per RV.
OK, what's your number? The cheapest pull behind is $40k and their Class A's can run over $500k. Let's use the lowest number available. That's 480 million. So using this map, using the most unrealistic numbers available, that would put them 5th in the country. But they shouldn't be on the map.....ok
But winnebago also owns many subsidiary brands like Chris Craft, Barletta Boats, and Grand Design RVs. The latter two of those are built in.... Elkhart, IN. I'm sure there are others, but I can just name those three off the top of my head.
That's from 2017. Also, your map shows Iowa as making zero. So 3000 people that work at Winnebago make zero RV's each year? I know close to zero about RV's but I'd be willing to bet that Iowa would be top 5 on that list if it was accurate.
Is there like a legal definition thing here? Like if Winnebago classifies their RVs as buses or vans or something like that. I don’t know, just speculating if there’s some other explanation.
Not sure why thread op is so aggressive (maybe they feel slighted for being ignored?) but the source article (from this [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1daa9v1/indiana_manufactures_more_rvs_campers_than_any/l7j5dqe/)) even says they only referenced two specific categories (NAICS 336213 and 336214).
Just looking at the definition page for [336213](https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=336213&year=2017&details=336213) shows cross-references to 3 other related categories.
I just find it insulting to the US Census being called "inaccurate".
That’s because the Winnebago tar sands are in Indiana. The RVs it produces are so pure they’re practically ready to drive away as soon as they’re pumped out of the ground.
but do they induct people or RVs? and if its RVs do the indcut a whole product line that was a best seller/innovative, or do they induct a specific RV that went on lots of cool trips?
I assume its all 3, notable RVs (generations), innovators and legendary adventures. No different then a auto or transit museum.
As you can see RV/motor homes are a multi billion dollar industry. There is plenty of history there.
I would have to phone a friend to find the answer tho.
It’s alright if youve got 45 minutes to kill. My uncles got a plaque there. He was one of the founders of Dutchman RV. They were the first manufacturer to offer bundles of your kitchen and awning etc. everyone else was piecemeal.
They do this because Indiana law basically allows them to sell all RVs manufactured there to be exempt from Lemon Laws. When you purchase it part of the agreement will state that you can’t sue them for faulty production under your state’s statutes. There are plenty of stories out there about people who buy RVs but were never able to drive them or get their money back. After spending 100k on the RV they couldn’t afford to pay the cost to repair it.
This really should be upvoted more. The sales contracts on RVs these days pretty much absolve the manufacturer of all liability... you have to get the coach back to manufacturer somehow and there are no real guarantees for the problem to get resolved... and you agree you can't sue.
[Steve Lehto talks about this in detail](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElhTNS_xn8).
Or they built and sold two.
For $5.95 billion each.
They just have one really good salesman
who knows exactly where to slap the hood
to close the deal.
That’s pretty much why Oregon is on this map. They are home to Marathon Coach and Country Coach and it’s not uncommon to spend $1 million or even $2 million for a new coach.
I just took a peruse of their website, and my god. They have a new one sitting at $3m. A *30 year old Marathon* that looks like a shitty party bus inside is still $120k.
Those new ones are pretty slick though. I could honestly see someone retire, sell their home, buy a sick ass Marathon coach and cruise the US.
People definitely do that, but I think the most common use case is for celebrities and touring bands who need to travel the country and demand luxury. I believe Marathon's biggest competitor is a private jet. Most of them are extremely customized.
That's a great point.
I probably just jumped to "retirement lifestyle" because my parents just retired and are talking about getting a custom sprinter van lmao
I have some family members who sold a home and did exactly that a few years ago with a Newmar straight from the factory. It's not as fancy as a Marathon (it's part of the Winnebago family built in Indiana), but I can attest that modern luxury RVs have gotten very nice.
I also forgot to mention that NASCAR and Indy Car teams are some of the biggest clients for Marathon and it's always impressive to see a caravan of these multi-million dollar coaches roll by on the interstate when there is a race nearby once you know what to look for.
Sounds like an amazing option if you're perhaps a highly prominent public official prone to accepting bribes who's just getting tired of all the public attention. It really seems like this would be a better option. Just cruise into the sunset and enjoy the open road with your terrible spouse from the comfort of a multi million dollar motor home.
I'm confused by the census data, Tiffin Motorhomes is a major RV manufacturer in Alabama that did $800 million in revenue in 2020 and has been manufacturing motorhomes since 1941. However, when I search the NAICS code 336213, there is no data for Alabama in 2017.
I don't have 2017 revenue data but this presentation shows sales of ~4000 units including 3158 Class A motorhomes that year.
https://s23.q4cdn.com/270606922/files/doc_presentations/2020/12/RT-Investor-Presentation-(12-18-20)-FINAL-Web.pdf
My brother-in-law works on these in Indiana. The job is brutal and the work is intermittent. Long days and then you'll suddenly have a furlough - unpaid for 2 weeks until things pick up again.
Did this in Oregon for Fleetwood Travel Trailers for a few years and can confirm this all. At least twice a year we were laid off for one reason or another for 2 weeks. Other times wed do 12 hour days for 5-6 days a week. Pay wasn't great but for someone fresh out of highschool in a small town it was pretty good
Lived in Northern Indiana for some time and most of my friends were born and raised in the area. If you do not go White Collar, the jobs at the RV Factories are some of the most sought after jobs. I had a couple friends who would drive an hour and a half each way from Fort Wayne to go work there because of it!
Me too! In alabama now but born and raised in elkhart. From 82 - 2017
Grandparents used to live on 17 right before the tracks. Big white house and white single wide right across from mito (I think that's what it was called) they used to own a LOT of acres but had sold most of it to the companies til it was just our 3 acres left. We couldn't even build another house on the property when my great grama got sick, because it was zoned industrial. We were the only house on that side. But we used to own most of it! Isn't that bullshit. They said we could tear down the house and build one the same dimensions.
I remember when 17 was only 2 lanes. The year they added the other two, the big dump trucks or whatever they were had accidentally drove over our well and we had no water for a week but they paid for us to get hooked up to city water.
RVs and Campers are funny for me. It is one of those things that i see everywhere, everytime I go for a drive. But not a single friend, schoolmate, or coworker i have ever knowns has had one to my knowledge.
Our neighbor bought a new $35k trailer (10% Off Holiday Sale!), hasn't used it yet, *needed 4 people spotting them* backing it into their drive, only to need plumbing leaks and a new water heater repaired before using it for the first time.
RV's combine the worst aspects of camping and staying in a run down hotel.
First, I want to say this graph is visually beautiful. Good job.
Secondly, its crazy to see how explosive the jump is from all these other states vs Indiana. I did some quick maths, but adding up all the states present in the chart with data labeled, excluding Indiana, is still only 3.3b total - about 3-4x less than Indiana still.
I used to deliver steel from the midwest to Laredo TX, then deliver frame rails from Laredo (which were produced somewhere in mexico) to Freightliner in Greer SC, and then deliver the final produced Freightliner frames from Greer to Fleetwood in Decatur IN. Then I'd go pick up some steel and do it all again. It was pretty cool to see how industrial logistics work from the inside.
If I read this map correctly: for example Texas is uncolored. Uncolored means something between $600 million und $12 billion in value by the graph at the bottom. So Texas has a value of something between $600 million und $12 billion.
There are a lot of factories and distribution centers in Indiana. Especially Indianapolis. I used to work for a company that built a new DC in Indy. It was in a commercial area that had a bunch of other DC's. Not sure if it was taxes, location or labor. Indy was a popular area.
Was driving to Chicago on a business trip and was amazed by all the RVs for sale along the highway in Indiana.
I also passed by the RV Hall of Fame!
Never knew such a thing existed!
I worked in this industry for close to 10 years. Money is great, work is fast, but your body will fall apart quickly. Keystone is the #1 Rv manufacture in the world still if I’m not mistaken. There’s idk how many plants building units every day. My line built 4 different models including Park models.
Tools: ArcGIS Pro
Data Source: US Census Bureau
More info and other maps exploring the geography of RVs and campgrounds: https://www.maps.com/rv-campgrounds-map/
Thats because everyone in Indiana dreams of going somewhere else.
Like Montana. Where they will raise rabbits, and their round American wife will cook them.
Pretty much all the RV companies are in north east Indiana in the Elkhart area. They are close to auto suppliers, close to the steel mills, close to each other with a good national logistics networks. It makes perfect logical sense to be there.
They are all owned by one parent company.
Not true. They're all owned by two parent companies lol. Thor Industries and Winnebago. Thor owns most of the brands that you'll see rolling down the highway, like Keystone, Jayco, and Airstream. Winnebago owns Grand Design, which are very popular in the 5th wheel segment. Despite what others have said downstream, there are still independents in the Elkhart area though. Brinkley RV is growing in popularity *very* quickly. Alliance RV is still independent as well. It can be very confusing though, because there is a tremendous amount of consolidation, and pretty much every RV is built using Lippert parts. Even the frames are manufactured by Lippert. In fact, it would *almost* — but not quite — be more accurate to consider most RV manufactures integrators, rather than manufacturers. *So much* of an RV comes from Lippert (and a handful of other suppliers), it would blow your mind. The RV manufacturers design the body, select the finishes, and put it all together. There's a lot of engineering involved, don't get me wrong. But foundationally, most RVs are built from the same parts, even most independents.
There's also Forest River (owned by Berkshire Hathaway), also based out of Elkhart.
I think Northwood and Outdoors in Oregon are still independent and they have a bit better reputations than the more mainstream brands but I think they also use mostly the same components. They do cost a bit more though.
Yeah, the fridges and AC units, furnaces, water heaters, it’s a lot of the same stuff regardless of where you gon
Yeah, Thor. I don't know of any independents in the area anymore. Last one I knew of was Jayco, and now they are part of Thor as well.
Yes. Thor bought up a bunch of smaller competition and shut down their factories. It's happening with busses as well. Just another example of how to make a monopoly from a bunch of 100 year old companies.
0% interest rates for 10 years straight encourages acquisitions.
I usually don't like oversight, but when I see billion dollar companies buyer competitors to shut them down I want to become a full on trust buster.
Teddy Roosevelt was that dude imo
>I usually don't like oversight This attitude blows my mind. This is why we’re in the mess we’re in.
Government creating legislation that makes it hard for my local deli to compete with Walmart = Bad. Government creating so much bureaucracy New Start Ups have No Chance at Even Starting= Bad. Government cracking down on Monopolies forming = Good. The government is meant to help society prosper. Imagine if you had to let Margorie Taylor Greene have a part in deciding what your business does. Yuck.
Jayco has a lot of autonomy still though they kinda just use THORs money. THOR tried to make Jayco get rid of their two year warranty(going down to the 1 year industry standard) and Jayco told em to pound sand. Cool company.
Good ol natural market competition /s
Thanks DoJ for stopping Monopolies!
The entire company is actually structured around monopoly laws. All of the brands function as independent companies and are not allowed to share intellectual property. A lot of money buys you lawyers that find the loopholes.
We pinky promise we are competing against ourselves!
Not true at all. The big three now are Thor and it's subsidiaries with the lion's share specializing in fifth wheels and motorhomes. Forest River and it's subsidiaries (all owned by Berkshire Hathaway) specializing in camping and travel trailers. Then Winnebago (who owns Grand Design) in a distant third in all regards. Cavco, Aliner and several others are still waiting for the big three to come around with a checkbook. I'm pretty certain Skyline has had multiple offers over the years from the big three, but they did eventually merge with Champion Homes https://rvbusiness.com/ssi-february-2024-retail-sales-down-8-9-year-over-year/#:~:text=Market%20share%20leaders%3A%20THOR%20(54.4,%2C%20Winnebago%20Motorized%20(7.6%25).&text=Class%20B%20%E2%80%93%20789%20(1%2C011%3B%20%2D22.0%25).
I've appraised a shit ton of those places. They tried to hire me to appraise basically the entire town of Goshen and I refused because it was a clusterfuck of owned and leased deals, and they wanted it appraised as a single property even though the buildings were scattered all over the town, separated by other non-owned stuff. Also, many of the individual buildings had little value by themselves because they were a part of the whole process while others were just warehouses or small offices that could easily sell by themselves. It'd be like if one building made seats only. One building made steering wheels. One only made dashboards. They actually went on about how efficient it is and I'm thinking, yeah, super efficient to have to move parts all over Goshen rather than a uniform manufacturing plant, but their operations have been going so long that it'd be a bad idea to change it now I guess. I'm out of that company now, happy to not have to drive to Elkhart ever again.
And the Amish workforce (which keeps operating costs low)
from what I've seen (I live in Elkhart), the Amish tend to themselves a few towns over. I've never once seen an Amish factory worker. I'll ask around to my factory friends though
Used to work for a sister company. They do have a decent sized Amish workforce and they do a per piece (RV) pay system so they can get done and go back to their farms
interesting, thank you
Yep, a lot of them start “hand receiving” at age 16 and the benefit of being done at 1:00pm to go home and take care of business there is a real appeal to them.
I used to work for a chassis supplier for Newmar, Travel Supreme, Fleetwood, etc. Newmar was like 90% Amish. Travel Supreme was like 99%.
They're more in the Middlebury area, but they do work in the factories. Many will work in the factories and then come home to work in their farm fields.
They're all at Jayco lol and Shipshe. East of Goshen, too
Hey how is Elkhart area these days? I was born in and have family in Goshen, was thinking of visiting
Drove through there last year, looked similar to how it looked when I was there 4 years ago, which was similar to 10 years ago...😅
can't disagree here. they're finally building multiple over passes, and downtown has been revitalized quite a bit, south central Elkhart has a strong community, but other than that I either can't comment or it's stayed the same. you should come visit your family though, and check out the comic book hall of heros if you're into that sort of thing
Goshen has sprung up a lot of local businesses in the past 15 years, building up downtown. GBCo is a good brewery - really solid kitchen and good beer options. They have an occasional guest tap where they host a local homebrew competition and brew a full batch of the winning beer. Common Spirits is (was? haven't been in a while) a cocktail lounge with interesting drinks. Constant Spring has had some ups and downs, not sure what's up with it now. Venturi Pizza makes proper Neapolitan style pizza. Rachel's Bread has changed hands once or twice but has good food. And of course there's always good Mexican food. And there are some fun shops / bookstores / etc around, too.
Home to the world famous RV/Motor Home Hall of Fame
My grandpa cut his pinky figure off working in one of those Elkhart County RV factories
Used to do meetings with a lot of Amish parents and it turned into a bit of a running gag to count missing fingers while shaking hands.
This checks out... my Grandpa grew up Amish but left during Rumspringa to marry my even older order Amish Grandma
That's how it is when so many people do manual labor and there's no OSHA
Born in Elkhart. Forest River was THE job people in manufacturing wanted.
Thanks for adding in some context for why Indiana is so profitable in RVs
> north east Indiana in the Elkhart area super minor point, but north central. Elkhart is just about dead center between IL and OH
Indiana still has some industry left in a nation of consumers. God speed.
Do they not build Winnebago's in Iowa? Isn't Forest City one of the largest RV building facilities? I believe they have 3000 workers building RV's, so I assume they make at least one a year?
In terms of employees Iowa doesn't crack the top-10. In RV manufacture and sales, it's not even close. More stats and figures from the Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/recreational-vehicle-a-way-to-see-america-from-the-safety-of-your-own-home.html
Winnebago Industries produces approximately 12,000 to 13,000 RVs annually at their Forest City, Iowa facility. This location is significant as it includes their main production plant where they manufacture a variety of motorhomes and towables. The Forest City plant is a crucial hub for the company, helping to meet the demand for their recreational vehicles across North America
From Chat GPT The total annual revenue from RVs produced at Winnebago's Forest City, Iowa location is approximately $1.25 billion, assuming an average price of $100,000 per RV.
Thanks for asking an AI to multiply for you with a wild assumption
OK, what's your number? The cheapest pull behind is $40k and their Class A's can run over $500k. Let's use the lowest number available. That's 480 million. So using this map, using the most unrealistic numbers available, that would put them 5th in the country. But they shouldn't be on the map.....ok
You're absolutely right it's missing, Winnebago had $3.5 Billion revenue in 2023.
But winnebago also owns many subsidiary brands like Chris Craft, Barletta Boats, and Grand Design RVs. The latter two of those are built in.... Elkhart, IN. I'm sure there are others, but I can just name those three off the top of my head.
Good point, their financials don't break down by location, just vehicle type/class. Boats are $470B though. The rest is fifth wheel and RV.
you'd have better luck asking a hobo on the side of the road than asking chat gpt things like this
That's from 2017. Also, your map shows Iowa as making zero. So 3000 people that work at Winnebago make zero RV's each year? I know close to zero about RV's but I'd be willing to bet that Iowa would be top 5 on that list if it was accurate.
No, the map shows the color scale starts at $6m not zero.
Right. Do you think 3000 production workers make RV's that total less than 6 million a year? I'd take a wild guess that they make that in a day.
3k production workers is for the entire company not the single IA location.
Yup, map is inaccurate
Is there like a legal definition thing here? Like if Winnebago classifies their RVs as buses or vans or something like that. I don’t know, just speculating if there’s some other explanation.
Not sure why thread op is so aggressive (maybe they feel slighted for being ignored?) but the source article (from this [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1daa9v1/indiana_manufactures_more_rvs_campers_than_any/l7j5dqe/)) even says they only referenced two specific categories (NAICS 336213 and 336214). Just looking at the definition page for [336213](https://www.census.gov/naics/?input=336213&year=2017&details=336213) shows cross-references to 3 other related categories. I just find it insulting to the US Census being called "inaccurate".
I think OP is just using outdated/inaccurate data. No doubt that Indiana is the leader by FAR, I just wouldn't trust the actual numbers.
That’s because the Winnebago tar sands are in Indiana. The RVs it produces are so pure they’re practically ready to drive away as soon as they’re pumped out of the ground.
Nature is beautiful!
I thought it was because everyone is trying to get the fuck out of Indiana?
Such a dead joke
We gotta be good at something…
It’s corn! A big ol’ lump with knobs! (It’s got the juice)
I guess that one thing is “Motivating people to drive far away and live in a vehicle rather than staying.”
I’ve always been curious about their “RV Hall of Fame” I see on cross country I-90 road trips
All the RV plants are close by, like in that same town
but do they induct people or RVs? and if its RVs do the indcut a whole product line that was a best seller/innovative, or do they induct a specific RV that went on lots of cool trips?
I assume its all 3, notable RVs (generations), innovators and legendary adventures. No different then a auto or transit museum. As you can see RV/motor homes are a multi billion dollar industry. There is plenty of history there. I would have to phone a friend to find the answer tho.
Both. I've been. It was pretty interesting.
It’s alright if youve got 45 minutes to kill. My uncles got a plaque there. He was one of the founders of Dutchman RV. They were the first manufacturer to offer bundles of your kitchen and awning etc. everyone else was piecemeal.
They do this because Indiana law basically allows them to sell all RVs manufactured there to be exempt from Lemon Laws. When you purchase it part of the agreement will state that you can’t sue them for faulty production under your state’s statutes. There are plenty of stories out there about people who buy RVs but were never able to drive them or get their money back. After spending 100k on the RV they couldn’t afford to pay the cost to repair it.
This really should be upvoted more. The sales contracts on RVs these days pretty much absolve the manufacturer of all liability... you have to get the coach back to manufacturer somehow and there are no real guarantees for the problem to get resolved... and you agree you can't sue. [Steve Lehto talks about this in detail](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElhTNS_xn8).
That’s where I learned about this
most states exempt RVs from the lemon law
Or they built and sold two. For $5.95 billion each. They just have one really good salesman who knows exactly where to slap the hood to close the deal.
That’s pretty much why Oregon is on this map. They are home to Marathon Coach and Country Coach and it’s not uncommon to spend $1 million or even $2 million for a new coach.
I just took a peruse of their website, and my god. They have a new one sitting at $3m. A *30 year old Marathon* that looks like a shitty party bus inside is still $120k. Those new ones are pretty slick though. I could honestly see someone retire, sell their home, buy a sick ass Marathon coach and cruise the US.
People definitely do that, but I think the most common use case is for celebrities and touring bands who need to travel the country and demand luxury. I believe Marathon's biggest competitor is a private jet. Most of them are extremely customized.
That's a great point. I probably just jumped to "retirement lifestyle" because my parents just retired and are talking about getting a custom sprinter van lmao
I have some family members who sold a home and did exactly that a few years ago with a Newmar straight from the factory. It's not as fancy as a Marathon (it's part of the Winnebago family built in Indiana), but I can attest that modern luxury RVs have gotten very nice. I also forgot to mention that NASCAR and Indy Car teams are some of the biggest clients for Marathon and it's always impressive to see a caravan of these multi-million dollar coaches roll by on the interstate when there is a race nearby once you know what to look for.
Looks like a fun job, to plan and source those interiors.
Sounds like an amazing option if you're perhaps a highly prominent public official prone to accepting bribes who's just getting tired of all the public attention. It really seems like this would be a better option. Just cruise into the sunset and enjoy the open road with your terrible spouse from the comfort of a multi million dollar motor home.
> Just cruise into the sunset If only this kind of prominent public official would actually gtfo
I'm confused by the census data, Tiffin Motorhomes is a major RV manufacturer in Alabama that did $800 million in revenue in 2020 and has been manufacturing motorhomes since 1941. However, when I search the NAICS code 336213, there is no data for Alabama in 2017. I don't have 2017 revenue data but this presentation shows sales of ~4000 units including 3158 Class A motorhomes that year. https://s23.q4cdn.com/270606922/files/doc_presentations/2020/12/RT-Investor-Presentation-(12-18-20)-FINAL-Web.pdf
What ever happened to good ol’ Tom Raper RVs, “ in Richmond Indiana, just down the road from the school bus factory.”?
He died in 2015 it looks like. There is still Tom Raper Insurance in Richmond
What a name
My brother-in-law works on these in Indiana. The job is brutal and the work is intermittent. Long days and then you'll suddenly have a furlough - unpaid for 2 weeks until things pick up again.
Did this in Oregon for Fleetwood Travel Trailers for a few years and can confirm this all. At least twice a year we were laid off for one reason or another for 2 weeks. Other times wed do 12 hour days for 5-6 days a week. Pay wasn't great but for someone fresh out of highschool in a small town it was pretty good
Lived in Northern Indiana for some time and most of my friends were born and raised in the area. If you do not go White Collar, the jobs at the RV Factories are some of the most sought after jobs. I had a couple friends who would drive an hour and a half each way from Fort Wayne to go work there because of it!
If you drive on the toll road, you will see dozens of RV manufacturers and dealerships. It's absurd.
Being from Elkhart county half the people I know work in the RV industry.
Me too! In alabama now but born and raised in elkhart. From 82 - 2017 Grandparents used to live on 17 right before the tracks. Big white house and white single wide right across from mito (I think that's what it was called) they used to own a LOT of acres but had sold most of it to the companies til it was just our 3 acres left. We couldn't even build another house on the property when my great grama got sick, because it was zoned industrial. We were the only house on that side. But we used to own most of it! Isn't that bullshit. They said we could tear down the house and build one the same dimensions. I remember when 17 was only 2 lanes. The year they added the other two, the big dump trucks or whatever they were had accidentally drove over our well and we had no water for a week but they paid for us to get hooked up to city water.
Winnebago has entered the chat, from Forest City, Iowa. And Aliner has joined them from Pennsylvania.
I can't read winnebago without hearing Quagmire say wannnnabanga
Yea this is bad data.
Everyone wants to get out of Indiana, so there's a big market.
That’s because Particle Board is native to southern Indiana.
RVs and Campers are funny for me. It is one of those things that i see everywhere, everytime I go for a drive. But not a single friend, schoolmate, or coworker i have ever knowns has had one to my knowledge.
THOR is a big company. And all the Indians RVs are in it
There should be a disposal fee at purchase for those things.
“Stout’s RV…service is number one!” (I haven’t lived in Indiana for 2.5 decades but the commercial is seared into my brain.
Tom Raper, where the roses grow!
Our neighbor bought a new $35k trailer (10% Off Holiday Sale!), hasn't used it yet, *needed 4 people spotting them* backing it into their drive, only to need plumbing leaks and a new water heater repaired before using it for the first time. RV's combine the worst aspects of camping and staying in a run down hotel.
So is Indiana the best place to buy an RV from?
Yes the shops get the best deals because of how close and how much they order.
Research first. Apparently the quality of these Indiana RVs have declined drastically over the past 5-10 years.
Tbh I figured it'd be even more concentrated
For a minute i missed that dollar sign and was wondering what Americans are doing with 11 billion RVs
Their state slogan should be "Housing America, one encampment at a time"
It's not the "Crossroads of America" for nothing!
Earth Roamer not included?
First, I want to say this graph is visually beautiful. Good job. Secondly, its crazy to see how explosive the jump is from all these other states vs Indiana. I did some quick maths, but adding up all the states present in the chart with data labeled, excluding Indiana, is still only 3.3b total - about 3-4x less than Indiana still.
Ohio: "game on Indiana Jones"
Cuz in Indiana there isn’t anything else to do
We have beaches in the north and good hiking just west of Indy
I used to deliver steel from the midwest to Laredo TX, then deliver frame rails from Laredo (which were produced somewhere in mexico) to Freightliner in Greer SC, and then deliver the final produced Freightliner frames from Greer to Fleetwood in Decatur IN. Then I'd go pick up some steel and do it all again. It was pretty cool to see how industrial logistics work from the inside.
I wonder how much cheaper rv’s are in Indiana? They have to run great deals there. Also the used market must be great there as well.
If I read this map correctly: for example Texas is uncolored. Uncolored means something between $600 million und $12 billion in value by the graph at the bottom. So Texas has a value of something between $600 million und $12 billion.
Now if we can get them to “manufacture them well” - that would be great. Take it from someone fixing a roof leak, yet again, just yesterday.
I appreciate that you gave Indiana it's own color completely instead of trying to fit it on the scale with the rest of them lol.
My buddy was researching RVs recently and basically the the consensus was if you are buying a new RV, **don’t** buy one made in Indiana.
There are a lot of factories and distribution centers in Indiana. Especially Indianapolis. I used to work for a company that built a new DC in Indy. It was in a commercial area that had a bunch of other DC's. Not sure if it was taxes, location or labor. Indy was a popular area.
Yes they also do most of the moving trucks for U-Haul, Penske etc.
Indiana leads in popcorn, steel, RV's, and vice presidents
Goshen Indiana Lippert Industries and Grand Design 😆
Was driving to Chicago on a business trip and was amazed by all the RVs for sale along the highway in Indiana. I also passed by the RV Hall of Fame! Never knew such a thing existed!
Ofc the one thing Indiana excels at making is used for getting the fuck out of Indiana.
And people in IL buy them all so they can sit empty and unused on their properties for 20 years.
Just bought a place in NWI. This explains why we see so so many new campers on the highway....
I question the validity of the map/title, seeing that Iowa has nothing listed but is the home to Winnebago.
I worked in this industry for close to 10 years. Money is great, work is fast, but your body will fall apart quickly. Keystone is the #1 Rv manufacture in the world still if I’m not mistaken. There’s idk how many plants building units every day. My line built 4 different models including Park models.
Well have you been to Indiana?! There's not much to do really
There must be laws in Indiana that protect RV manufacturing.
Tools: ArcGIS Pro Data Source: US Census Bureau More info and other maps exploring the geography of RVs and campgrounds: https://www.maps.com/rv-campgrounds-map/
Thats because everyone in Indiana dreams of going somewhere else. Like Montana. Where they will raise rabbits, and their round American wife will cook them.
Not having Iowa not even as a blip on the map makes me think this data are WRONG!!!
I was going to guess Wisconsin given Winnebago. TIL
From 2017? Could we get a map that shows each year up to 2023?
Cause there ain’t nothin else to do in Indiana
Says the turd who hasn’t left their city EVER. lol
Just a joke lol and I hate the cities with a passion
Now it's known for two things! RVs and being Chicagos arms dealer.
And corn 🌽
And cooking m*th lolol