Bob Ashley

Airstream Inc. will begin production next year of the all-fiberglass Nest by Airstream travel trailer brand that it acquired March 21 from Bend, Ore.-based Nest Caravans. Production of the lightweight, diminutive trailer will be moved to Jackson Center, Ohio, where the Thor Industries Inc. subsidiary produces its iconic ”silver bullet” aluminum Airstream travel trailers. It’s […]

The three-day Austin (Texas) RV Expo (Feb. 18-21) drew a record crowd of 8,103 RV enthusiasts to the Austin Convention Center. ”It was our highest attendance ever,” said Jennifer McKinney, director of marketing for the Austin Chapter of the Texas Recreation Vehicle Association (TRVA). The show, in it’s 10th year, displayed some 300 towable and […]

Hard on the heels of a 15,000-square-foot showroom addition at its Missoula, Mont., flagship store, Bretz RV and Marine expects to move in early spring into a new 35,000-square feet dealership in Billings. The Billings facility will replace a smaller shop half-a-mile down the road. ”We will be carrying everything,” said owner Mark Bretz, whose parents, […]

BundutecUSA Inc., a small Raymond, Iowa, company that found moderate success building truck campers for export to Australia, is turning its attention to the U.S. RV market after the foreign exchange rate became unfavorable. ”I’m just developing the market for the U.S.,” said Rory Willett, BundutecUSA president. ”Last year, I built 35 campers for Australia. […]

Goshen, Ind.-based Dutchmen Manufacturing Inc. is ahead of its production schedule at the 183,000-square-foot factory it opened in November on the north side of Syracuse, Ind., to build and conventional and ultralight travel trailers. ”It’s coming up to speed very quickly,” said Troy James, vice president of sales for the towable RV-manufacturing unit of Thor […]

Capri Campers LLC, a small entry-level Texas truck camper manufacturer, is looking to expand into Idaho or Montana in 2016 to broaden its market. ”That is our plan right now, unless something changes,” said Pete D’Acosta, who purchased the 46-year-old company in Bluff Dale, Texas, in February 2014. ”The entry-level camper market has become a more […]

A New Zealand company is in talks with up to half a dozen North American RV manufacturers to build what can only be called a unique travel trailer as the entire living compartment swings open like a flash drive. (To view a video of the Romotow Ltd. trailer scroll to the right side of the […]

The popularity of ice fishing in Northern Minnesota has led Glacier Ice House LLC, Bimiji, to introduce a Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA)-certified travel trailer line that can be used as shelter for fishing on a lake or as a camping cabin on land. The wood-and-aluminum Glacier ice house, available in five 12- to 22-foot […]

Billed as the world’s largest RV show and coming off record crowds last year, Caravan Salon Düsseldorf kicks off a nine-day run for the general public Saturday (Aug. 29) at the Dusseldorf (Germany) Fairgrounds (Messe Düsseldorf). Nearly 600 exhibitors will display some 130 brands of motorized and towable RVs throughout 2 million square feet of […]

Some 1,000 people Saturday (Aug. 22) attended the RV/MH Hall of Fame ”Family Fest” that featured the Kelly Miller Circus, vintage RV and custom car shows along with music from the band Southern Straightaway. ”The event did exactly what we wanted it to do,” said Jeff White, Hall vice president and director of operations. ”A […]