Winnebago CEO Touts Fuel Efficient Motorhome in New York Times Interview

In a published interview with the New York Times, Winnebago Industries CEO, Bruce Hertzke, says while the big motorhome manufacturer has been bit hard by fuel prices and shaken consumer confidence, happy days will be here again. He just can't say exactly when.

Asked by the Times just how he expected his company to kick-start a return to positive profits, Hertzke replied, "We believe that we have a growing market. In the United States, our estimates suggest that we have people turning 50 at a rate of 350,000 per month. That is more than four million per year, and this is our target market. With these favorable demographics — it’s baby boomers who buy our products — we expect our sales and profits to return to a growth cycle." Hertzke then had to admit he wasn't sure when that "growth cycle" would come back.

With the high cost of fuel and rising environmental concerns, Hertzke pointed to a Winnebago motorhome the company markets which gets 17 miles per gallon. "That motor home gets better gas mileage than my Ford pickup," the CEO crowed. We checked in with Winnebago's publicity folks, they tell us that the chief was speaking of both the Itasca Navion and the Winnebago View, both are mid-20' Class C units equipped with diesel engines. While we couldn't find any actual fuel econo specs on the web site, it's probably a safe bet that the rest of the fleet doesn't beat the Ford truck.

Nevertheless, Winnebago's two little diesels have caught the attention of Green Car Journal. GCJ takes the position that motor vehicles and the environment should not be mutually exclusive. The journal did a quick review on the Winnebago offering in a recent edition which you can view here.

Check out the full story in the New York Times.

Photo courtesy Green Car Journal