Every year, about 1,000 movers and shakers in the RV manufacturing industry gather in a massive meeting hall at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana, for the RV Industry “Power Breakfast.”
After consuming massive amounts of scrambled eggs, bacon, and enough coffee to fill 50 RV black water tanks, the group listens to presentations from Northern Indiana politicians, campground leaders, and economists.
It’s truly an industry lovefest, usually capped by a panel discussion with the “Big 3” CEOs from Forest River, Winnebago and Thor. All forks are silenced when Mike Happe (Winnebago), Bob Martin (Thor), and Pete Liegl (Forest River) take the stage.
Usually, RVers would be bored to tears by the “inside RV manufacturing” talk and all the back-slapping and high fives. But this certainly isn’t a normal year by anyone’s standards.
We thought it would be worthwhile to point you in the direction of a story in RV Business Magazine and on the rvbusiness.com website concerning the RV Industry Power Breakfast. It should be noted that RV Business is one of the sponsors/organizers of the event. The story is a fascinating look behind the curtain into the mindsets of those building your recreational vehicles.
You can read about what worries the “Big Three,” as well as what they are excited about as they talk about future innovations.
It’s a good read. You can take a look here.
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The article regarding the RV Power Breakfast seems to be the same thing..give them what they want to hear and not what is actually happening! Until we get past these kinds of breakfast pats on the back the true issues will never be addressed..it reminds me of the saying…when things remain the same and we can’t figure out why nothing changes. Thank you for publishing it..at least we get a glimpse of what is happening at the top.
So they are thrilled for the production of thousands of new RVs but no discussion about where they can be used? Other than KOA adding 20 new parks where will these new rigs go?
To the dealership lots, waiting to be repaired.
It’s a telling reflection on the entire RV industry when a dealer feels compelled to provide a “shake-down” (ie., shake-apart!) kit to new RVers. Perhaps a better approach would be a single FHU campsite in the dealer’s parking lot, so the buyer could, first, test drive, then use all the appliances, to discover some of the RVs problems even before leaving the premises.
If they can’t get their quality control issues under control they’ll become the YUGO’s of the industry. Nobody will buy their junk.
There seemed to be a lot of talk about low inventory, how they could have sold more, how to bring customers back into dealerships, lots of backslapping and congratulations, and very little about customer satisfaction, and the things that really mean something to those of us that use their products. Sure, they’re going to hire more, better inventory, etc. The proof, shall we say, is in the pudding. We’ll see.