Alliance RV has been a towables company since day one. Now it’s stepping into motorhomes—and the clue is parked right out front. With Alliance RV motorhomes now officially on the table, the Elkhart builder is making its move by buying a Class B van specialist instead of starting from scratch.
Rather than designing a first coach and learning the hard lessons in public, Alliance RV LLC has acquired Midwest Automotive Designs, a longtime builder of Class B vans based, like Alliance, in Elkhart.
That choice tells you a lot about how this expansion is meant to work.
This isn’t a toe in the water
Midwest Automotive Designs has been building Class B vans for more than 20 years, mostly on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis. These aren’t early prototypes or first-year experiments. Midwest already has finished vans on the road—and people who know how to build them.
That matters because jumping from trailers to motorhomes isn’t a small step. The systems are different. The expectations are higher. And when manufacturers get it wrong, owners usually find out the hard way.
By buying an established Class B builder, Alliance skips the rookie phase.
Midwest will continue operating as its own business unit, and production will stay in Elkhart. The roughly 200 employees who build those vans today will still be the ones building them going forward. This isn’t a logo swap—it’s a knowledge transfer.
Why RVers should care
Class B buyers tend to be picky, and for good reason. When your entire RV fits into a van, every design decision counts. Storage, access to systems, layout flow—there’s nowhere to hide mistakes.
Alliance has earned a following in towables by paying attention to owner feedback and making steady, practical changes over time. If that mindset carries over into Midwest’s vans, it could show up in the small details that matter most to people who actually live with their rigs.
It’s too early to say what future models might look like. But this much is clear: Alliance isn’t dabbling in motorhomes. It’s entering the Class B market with a company that already knows what van buyers expect.
For a trailer builder, it’s a notably careful way to pull into the motorized lane.
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RVT1248b
Let’s see how long this arrangement lasts. I hope it does. When we downsize from a 40′ DP to a B or C that there is a quality driven builder still around.
Thank you, Russ and Tina, for sharing this news! I wonder why Alliance entered this aspect of the industry? Do they hope, think that these two aspects of the industry tend to move sufficiently dissimilarly to provide financial diversification? Hmm, … I guess we’ll see in the coming months if this is a good idea. Have a great day and safe travels!