In order to offer a better user experience, “RV Lifestyle” has moved its online Community Forum (RVCommunity.com) to a private, subscribers-only model.
Founded in 2012, RV Lifestyle is a thriving community dedicated to RVing and travel. Its operations, which continue to be operated by Mike and Jennifer Wendland, features an RV travel blog, YouTube channel, RV podcast and RV books and newsletters.
In addition, RV Lifestyle has a Facebook Group with over 482,000 members. Actually, the Facebook Group is the driving reason for the Wendlands to launch a private, members-only forum. Facebook has become overrun with fake user accounts, trolls spewing negativity, and spammers, plus there’s growing concern over Facebook’s AI-fueled algorithms that track its users’ online habits, Mike Wendland told RVBusiness.
“The biggest pushback we have had about Facebook and all social media is the bombarding of ads,” he said. “Facebook is just insane now with AI (artificial intelligence). Literally, if you just think about a product or something, suddenly you’re bombarded with ads about it. I don’t know how that works, but that happens.”
In addition, Wendland said they would prefer to offer a forum without advertising so users can enjoy meaningful discussions and resources without distraction, and RV Lifestyle can avoid any appearance of being biased toward any one particular company.
“Moving to a paid membership model creates a more dedicated and engaged community, filtering out spammers and trolls,” he told RVBusiness. “Members who value the forum will be more likely to contribute positively, enhancing the overall quality of discussions.
“It’s like a gated campground in a digital space,” he said, adding that the new forum is easily searchable – unlike the Facebook Group.
“When you post a question on Facebook, it’s up and it’s gone,” he said. “When you try to find it five minutes later, you never will find it. They’re so big and they have so much to track that they can’t archive all their stuff.”
Starting at a modest $4.99 per month, the new forum offers three subscription levels – think of them as “good-better-best” – each with varying degrees of benefits. The forum features about two dozen different discussion groups centered around a specific topic, such as amateur radio, e-Bikes, land ownership and traveling with pets. That’s another feature not available with a Facebook Group.
Wendland was quick to point out that none of RV Lifestyle’s existing platforms will be going away, and the new members-only online forum is over and above those offerings.
“I’m really excited about it,” he said. “We’re not changing the structure of it – it’s a forum – but it’s much more advanced and it’s totally centered around RVs. And I go live on there. We now do two live streams a week with instant Q&A, with guests every now and then.
“A smaller group allows closer relationships,” Wendland continued, “with members who become true friends, not anonymous posters. It creates a real family feeling. Fun and friendships are our main goals, all set in a caring community of other RV Lifestyle enthusiasts.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: It is almost a fool’s errand to summarize this incredibly complex issue in a single article. While RVBusiness will continue to provide coverage of this ongoing topic, RVIA has been providing regular updates on this issue as they become available. In addition, RVIA will post a recording of Tuesday’s webinar on its website later this week.
Recent action in California that would severely handicap motorhome sales in that state and more than a handful of others has ignited a flurry of controversy. Making matters worse, the issue is as confusing as it is complex, with misinformation and hyperbole only fanning the flames.
Essentially, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has a goal of eventually moving California to a zero-emission vehicular (ZEV) economy. To reach this goal, CARB has enacted several regulations including the Advanced Clean Truck (ACT), which impacts chassis manufacturers, and the Omnibus Low NOx rule, which has limited the number of diesel engines that can be sold in medium and heavy-duty vehicles in California. A third action is the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation, which will require that all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including motorhomes, that are sold into California be zero-emission vehicles by 2036.
This confluence of regulations could impact the availability of motorhomes in California beginning Jan. 1, but there’s so much more to this issue.
To offer as much clarity on this topic as can be had, the RV Industry Association (RVIA) conducted an hour-long webinar Tuesday. Hosted by Monika Geraci, RVIA’s director of public relations and communications, the webinar included RVIA Vice President of Government Affairs Jason Rano and Mike Ochs, who serves as RVIA’s director of state government affairs.
The first half of the webinar featured background on the issue, while the final 30 minutes was dedicated to questions from those tuning in.
Jason Rano
Calling it a “fluid and ongoing situation,” Rano emphasized that these regulations do not constitute a “ban” on motorhome sales in California, as has been widely reported by many media outlets.
As revealed during the webinar, motorhomes can still be sold and registered either through utilization of the ZEV credit market or generating a carry forward deficit that will have to be offset by credits within three years.
In either case, the ZEV credits would be obtained and utilized by chassis manufacturers. Motorhome manufacturers could secure ZEV credits and transfer them to chassis manufacturers, Ochs pointed out, but it is ultimately up to chassis manufacturers whether they implement those credits for RVs or for other medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in their fleets.
“Another important consideration is that chassis manufacturers who produce fewer than 500 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles being sold into California annually are exempted from this regulation,” Rano added. “That is one potential workaround – though, obviously, 500 chassis is not sufficient to supply all the motorhomes that are being shipped into California.”
The carry forward deficit is another potential work-around, Rano added. If chassis manufacturers don’t sell enough ZEV chassis or don’t have enough ZEV credits, they have the next three years to make up that deficit. Rano noted that three-year timeframe was an improvement as the regulation previously only allowed a one-year makeup period.
“I think it’s important to note that the makeup period begins immediately following the model year in which the deficit happened,” Rano said. “So, if there is a deficit at the end of the manufacturer’s 2025 model year, the manufacturer would have ’26, ’27 and ’28 model years to make up the shortfall, and then they would have to be made up by the end of that three years.
“So, this is an opportunity for our industry to continue to deliver and for consumers to continue to purchase and register new motorhomes,” he noted. “It’s not a fail-safe – chassis manufacturers still have to make up the credit deficit within three years – but it’s an important consideration and an important ability to continue to deliver new motorhomes into California.”
Michael Ochs
Yet another factor to this issue is there are other states that are in line to follow California’s regulations. According to Ochs, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington are set to implement the regulations beginning with the 2025 model year, while Vermont has targeted the 2026 model year and Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico and Rhode Island have circled the 2027 model year.
While these states must, by law, implement all of these regulations – it’s an all or nothing approach – they do have the flexibility of delaying the implementation. Several states, including Oregon and New York, have indicated they are considering such a course of action.
Lastly, Ochs noted that RVIA in active discussion with CARB officials. He was encouraged by an upcoming meeting that was requested by CARB.
“For those of us who have been working on CARB issues for a while, this has been somewhat of a revelation. It’s the first time I can remember CARB coming to us and asking us for a meeting so we have pledged to continue working with them to see if we can’t find a solution that is fair and equitable to all parties,” Ochs said.
CARB is also planning a public workshop sometime later this month on the Omnibus Low NOx rule, he added. This would be in preparation for the board hearing scheduled tentatively for November of 2025.
SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. – The RV Component Exposition, an event designed to connect RV component suppliers and the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of the RV industry, will be held at the Michiana Event Center (MEC) on Oct. 14-16, 2025. The MEC is located at 455 E Farver St., Shipshewana, IN 46565.
The RV Component Expo premiered this October at the MEC, hosting 48 exhibitors and 350 attendees. The exposition provides a platform for various suppliers to showcase their capabilities, driving innovation, elevating product quality, and strengthening the overall RV manufacturing world. Attendees can expect to broaden their supply chain contacts, discover new products, and find cost-saving components.
“I was surprised at how diverse the exhibitors were for a first-year show. This is an excellent way to find small manufacturers to fulfill your supply chain. I’ll encourage all of our key people to be there next year,” said Devon Miller, VP of Operations at Jayco RV.
Mike Bontrager, Director of Operations at Brinkley RV, said, “I was blown away at the amount of thought that certain suppliers at this expo put into product design. They’re very mindful of OSHA compliance on their ancillary equipment, and RVIA compliance with their components for our units. Love the innovation.”
For more information about exhibiting or attending next year’s RV Component Expo, contact Brandon Esh: 206-361-0414, [email protected]
NAPPANEE, Ind. — inTech officials are thrilled to announce that their Flyer, Luna, Sol, and Auctamodels have been awarded the prestigious Quality Circle Award by the RV Dealers Association (RVDA).
This recognition, based on dealer responses to RVDA’s 30th Annual Dealer Satisfaction Index (DSI) survey, is a testament to the strength of the company’s partnerships and commitment to quality.
The DSI survey measures dealer perspectives on key aspects of their relationships with manufacturers, assessing policies, product satisfaction, and procedures. The insights gained through this survey are invaluable in fostering a productive, cooperative environment that helps us continuously elevate our product and service standards.
“We are incredibly honored by this recognition and deeply grateful to our dealer network for their valued partnership and support,” said Keith Fishburn, Head of inTech Sales. “At inTech, we recognize that our dealers are integral to our success, and we are committed to nurturing these relationships and consistently delivering on quality and innovation.”
The Quality Circle Awards was presented at the RV Dealers Convention/Expo Nov. 12 in Las Vegas, during the Spotlight on Excellence Luncheon.
The presence of a contractual agreement between the state and automakers, including BMW, Ford, Honda, Stellantis, Volkswagen and Volvo, plus the state’s continuing responsibilities under the Clean Air Act to maintain a certain air quality will complicate a Trump administration effort to block California’s green energy push.
“It’s obviously open to some question, but I think that the core structures are actually pretty favorable” to California, said Craig Segall, senior vice president of environmental group Evergreen Action and a former deputy executive officer with the California Air Resources Board.
While California has several options for maintaining its regulatory autonomy, Trump also has several ways of attempting to strip it. The state is bracing for a regulatory battle over environmental protection rights it has claimed since 1968, a sign of just how politicized electric vehicles have become.
“It’s really a period of massive uncertainty for the automakers,” said Robert Fisher, domain principal of electrification at consulting firm SBD Automotive. “They’re looking at billions of dollars worth of investment for clean tech, for sustainability, for low-emission vehicles” and trying to figure out what to do.
The RV Women’s Alliance (RVWA) and the RV Technical Institute (RVTI) are excited to announce their partnership with the Campground Owners Expo (COE) to offer RVtechnician training to women at the fourth annual event. The COE will take place December 4-7, 2024, at the Hilton Branson Convention Center in Branson, MO.
During the event, campground owners and staff will have the opportunity to receive RVTI’s gold standard Level 1 RV technician training. This training will provide attendees with the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare an RV for customer delivery by verifying the operation of all components.
“We are thrilled to partner with RVTI and COE to offer this valuable training opportunity to female campground owners and staff,” said RV Women’s Alliance President Susan Carpenter. “With this training, campground operators will be able to provide RV repair services for their customers, improving the campers’ experience and creating new revenue streams.”
COE registration for campgrounds is just $200 – that one flat fee allows the park to bring up to five people. This means individuals who are participating in the RVTI training will be able to bring up to four additional people from their park who can attend the COE seminars and events while one woman from the park does the tech training. This is a great way to educate more members of your team and gather information from the trade show.
“Campgrounds are such an important part of the customer experience and we believe there is an incredible opportunity for campgrounds to take advantage of RV technician training. We appreciate COE allowing us to showcase our training for their attendees,” said RV Technical Institute Executive Director Curt Hemmeler. “This is a great way for campgrounds to invest in their employees and improve the level of service they provide to their guests.”
The Campground Owners Expo is a premier event for campground owners and operators. The expo provides attendees with the opportunity to network with other professionals, learn about new products and services, and gain valuable insights into the campground industry.
“We are proud to partner with RVWA and RVTI to offer this valuable training opportunity to our attendees,” said COE Founder Lori Severson. “This training will help campgrounds improve their operations and provide their guests with a better experience.”
ELKHART, Ind. – Once again, Airxcel Inc. has used its annual New Product Showcase to introduce new products in new category segments. Last year it was the InVision brand of RV appliances, while this year it’s the Solace line of furniture and Forma, which will be Airxcel’s chassis components division.
More information on those new Solace and Forma brands will be forthcoming, but suffice to say that both are part of the company’s growth plan that is led by product innovation and market opportunities.
“We’ve had a plan to grow our business through new products since the day I joined the operation, which was 2016,” Airxcel President Anthony Wollschlager told RVBusiness. “We’ve always focused on new product development and innovation. We may have accelerated that over the last few years. We’re being opportunistic where we see there being opportunities and, really, our partners are supporting us to enter new spaces.”
Concluding today at the Peter Orthwein Pavilion at the RV/MH Hall of Fame campus in Elkhart, Ind., Airxcel’s New Product Showcase is the company’s opportunity to gather under one roof its different divisions – now up to 16 – located across the country.
Jeff Cowan, business unit manager for Velarium, is shown with group of Keystone RV engineers and product managers.
“And then, secondly, I think it’s an opportunity for us to show the industry our entire scale,” Wollschlager added. “Airxcel itself doesn’t make anything, but we have significant brands that do all the heavy lifting. So, to bring them all in one location, I think it also shows the marketplace the scale that we have.
Certainly, the Solace furniture line and Forma chassis component brand will garner much of the attention, but that’s not to say Airxcel’s existing brands didn’t introduce their own innovations as well – including the Aqua-Hot Wave40. Again, more information on those products will be released by the company over the coming days.
“All of our legacy brands have significant product extensions that we’ve been focusing on and a lot of innovation with core products that we’ve always taken to market,” Wollschlager said.
Troy Nusbaum, vice president of OEM sales, added that “every product that’s in here is new. We haven’t brought anything that’s a carryover or as we say, a ‘re-tread.’ They are all brand new products that a lot of our customers are seeing for the first time.”
Mentioning that the timing of the showcase so closely after the Open House is also a benefit, Nusbaum said the new products in new segments are oftentimes the result of leveraging Airxcel’s various skill sets.
“Let’s use Suburban as example,” he continued. “At its core, Suburban Manufacturing is known for furnaces and water heaters. But they have a great skill set in working with metal fabrication, which is where we bore into this Suburban step program. People might think, ‘How do you get into steps when you’re working with gas appliances?’ Well, ultimately, they’re really good at fabricating metal. So, we were able to lever that skill set and actually get into new segments where customers have asked us to.”
ELKHART, Ind. – With a ribbon-cutting celebration Thursday at its newest retail store in Elkhart, Ind., Fun Town RV not only further solidified its aggressive expansion pace, company officials promised there would be more to come.
From the corner office of the former International RV Wholesalers dealership on Elkhart’s west side – FunTown acquired the business in early September – Jarrod McGhee, FunTown’s founder, president and “chief bottle washer,” vowed that there would be additional expansion announcements in the near future.
“We’ve got another store in Grand Rapids, Mich., that we’re opening, two in Little Rock (Ark.), and there’s six more on the board that’ll be announced in the next six months,” McGhee said, before shedding some light on the reasons for FunTown’s expansion pace.
“Well, it’s not a need to get bigger,” he said. “I mean, anybody that has a competitive spirit wants to win, and when you’re really good at something – and I think I’m the best operator in the business with the best team in the business with the best products – why not get bigger? I mean, the opportunity’s there and to me it’d almost be a sin not to grow and get bigger and expand.
Jarrrod McGhee
“I think that I owe a lot of my success is my team,” he continued. “I’ve got a lot of really good veterans who care. They poured their heart and soul to help me build this company and I owe it to them and me to keep growing, keep the company healthy, keep going in the right direction.
“I’ve got a young man sitting right beside me,” he said, referring to his son, Chandler, “who looks at me about once a day like I’m sitting in his seat. So, I want to have this company raring to go from when he’s starting to take the reins and take over and take us to the next decade.”
As far as the ribbon cutting, McGhee and his team were all smiles as they officially opened the dealership’s second Elkhart location – which happens to be a Forest River-exclusive store. FunTown’s first store in Elkhart is dedicated to PDI.
Earlier, McGhee told RVBusiness that his third Elkhart location was going to be another PDI operations, one large enough to allow every single unit slated for a FunTown store to first undergo an inspection by his team. He added that FunTown will host a job fair in October – details are still being finalized – to help staff that new PDI facility, among other positions.
“We need everything from technicians, service operators, service writers, and management from entry level positions all the way up,” he said. “We’re going to a 100% quality control every unit before it leaves Indiana and goes to any of our stores, and we need a lot of help to do it. We’d love to have experience, but you don’t have to have experience. If you just have a good attitude and you’re willing to work, we will have a spot for you.”
During that same conversation, McGhee shared some of his expansion strategies as well as his thoughts on the RV industry and its approach to the customer experience. What follows is an edited account of that conversation.
RVB: Congratulations on the grand opening of your company’s newest store in Elkhart. You’ve been on quite the growth spurt lately, Jarrod. Was this always in your plans?
McGhee: Well, Fun Town RV started in 2010. We had one location and it grew slowly. We were really focused on infrastructure people when we first started out. We’d had maybe a store or two a year. I never thought I was going to be a big chain. I started out just wanting having one store do a really good job, service North Texas. Then it became two stores, three stores. By the time I got to four, I realized I’m a company now and I had to start structuring it that way and put layers of management in and things like that. So, we started getting a little bit bigger and started adding processes and management.
A few more years go by and some of the outside money started coming in, the Wall Street money, and they started coming in and buying people and buying people out and paying these big multiples. I kind of stepped back and scratched my head and said, ‘Why are they paying us? I can do a better job. I can rebuild the store, start from scratch, not have bad habits, go in there, teach people how to do this right, do the service right.’
RVB: And you align your stores around a customer-experience mentality, don’t you?
McGhee: Because I came from the floor and selling RVs, one of the things that always bugged me was I knew that we could do a better job with the customer experience. The day you buy the RV, you should be just as happy as the day you’re camping in it. It shouldn’t be a struggle. You shouldn’t be still repairing it the day you pick it up. It should be a happy, fun experience.
So, I took that thought process when I was trying to build the dealership and I wanted to do the PDI facility up here so that all my dealerships got a quality unit so when they sold it to the customer, they’re not repairing it while the customer’s picking up. Then do a walk-through experience with the customer, learn how to use the unit right.
From working the floor and being just a general sales manager at one point, I learned that 50% of the problems the customers have after they buy it is because they weren’t taught how to use the unit right. The other 50% is because they were built with a defect that came from the factory that didn’t get caught before you deliver it to the customer. So, I said, ‘If I can work on limiting both of those ends, I’ll have a better product and I don’t need to go pay somebody to buy their dealership. I can build a better mousetrap.’ That’s really what I felt I did.
It took about 10 years to get the infrastructure built up, but now that the market’s kind of taken a downturn and those guys that overpaid for those dealerships have all kind of decided, ‘Oops, we spent too much money and invested money that we shouldn’t have’ – or they haven’t and they’ve all calmed down – we’re able to go out and start greenfielding and buying locations and markets and putting our processes in place at a reasonable price, getting the product that we want, going and giving the customer a better value because we didn’t overspend on the dealership or overspend on buying something.
We’re able to pass that value and that savings and all the experience we’ve had over the years of how to deliver an RV right, how to purchase one right, how to get it to customer right to these new markets and they welcome us with open arms. I haven’t opened a dealership yet in a market that we didn’t just take right off and get going.
I think my smallest store right now is doing 35 units a month. My largest store fortunately retails 250, 300 units a month. So, it’s been a journey. I mean, I literally was working at Fun Time RV back in 2010 and it goes out of business. I’m like, ‘Oh no, what I’m going to do the next day.’ I opened one store and I look up 15 years later and I’ve got 24 locations – about to have 30 – and a little over 800 employees. It’s been a whirlwind.
RVB: And, as you mentioned, the new PDI facility will allow you to perform an inspection on every unit you order?
McGhee: We decided that we’re just not going to let one leave without quality control. We’re going to work with these factories hand in hand.
We’re going to quit calling an item when they sell it to me before I sell it to the customer and it’s broken a ‘warranty item’ going to start calling it a ‘defect.’ We’re going to start identifying these defects and trying to figure out how we’re going to get the trailer from their plant to my plant door without having a defect on it.
I mean, I don’t think industry’s going to go Six Sigma overnight, but we’re working hand in hand with Forest River and THOR to figure out how we’re going to get a better quality of product from their plant door to my plant door so I can take it from my plant door to the customer’s driveway and have as few problems as possible.
Right now, we’re doing about 50%. In 2018, when I built the original PDI facility, I could do a 100% of my inventory through it. But the company’s grown a little bit since then. We’re about 5% of the nation’s sales now and it’s going to take another plant in order to be able to get them all through the PDI process. That’s our goal: in the next six months have 100% of our inventory through PDI before it ever gets to the store.
RVB: Jarrod, a few years back you told us you were quite happy with staying in Texas. Now, you have locations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. What happened?
McGhee: Well, I was happy with greenfields in Texas then because there was some people running around using other people’s money, overpaying for dealerships and paying six and seven multiples. I was happy to let them run around and do that, but now I’m over to a more realistic time.
I can go into markets outside of Texas for not much money and set up a nice little dealership and get the right brands in place and do a good job for the community and for the RV community and get in there. I believe some sanity is starting to come back to the industry now, but they’re at the expense of some equity companies. If you made a little bit of public money out there, I learned a lesson that the RV industry is not the auto industry.
To me it’s the right time. I was waiting for the downturn. I was waiting for sanity to come back for the industry before I started spreading out and going to different states.
I’m very happy with my 30% of the state of Texas I have – and I don’t know why I don’t have the other 70% yet, but I’m working on it. But, yes, I’m going to be going to several other markets.
RV manufacturers and suppliers are busy with the final details of their displays for the 2024 ELkhart RV Open House set for next week at various locations in and around Elkhart, Ind. Pictured here in the Keystone RV display at the RV/MH Hall of Fame are, seated from left, Mike Auger, Cody Schade and Jason Farver and, standing from left, Ronnie Harper and David Koerting.
Keystone is part of the THOR Industries display at the Hall of Fame, while other OEMs are showcasing their 2025 model year lineups elsewhere. Forest River’s Dealer Expo is located at an East t West facility in southwest Elkhart and Winnebago is welcomign dealers from its location at Elcona Country Club. Many manufacturers are set up along Executive Parkway leading into the Hall of Fame, and others have displays at their respective campuses in Bristol, Elkhart, Goshen, Nappanee and other norther Indiana locations.
Most manufacturers are hosting dealers Monday, Sept. 23 through Thursday, Sept. 26.
ELKHART, Ind. – NeXus RV welcomed over 100 owners of their motorhomes to the company’s campus Thursday as part of the 2024 NeXus RV Owners Rally, taking place in nearby Shipshewana, Ind.
Thursday’s activities at NeXus included a catered breakfast, tours of the company’s 2025 models that were on display, and a healthy Q&A session with co-founders Claude Donati and Dave Middleton and other members of their team.
“It’s always nice because of the camaraderie,” Donati told RVBusiness. “We get to let them ask their questions, what they’re experiencing, and provide any insight to make our product better. We do factory tours, we take down their questions and concerns, feed them, give them some apparel, and it’s just a nice morning to spend with them.”
Middleton noted that when he and Donati founded NeXus in 2010, it was initially a factory-direct business model before changing to a dealer network in 2018. Because of that, he said, the two have an even greater appreciation for their owners.
“We want to try to keep that intimate relationship with the customers, and I think we try to step in as much as possible to make sure that the customers are taken care of,” Middleton said. “In this busy world our dealers live in, sometimes they aren’t treated as well as we want them to be. So, we really work our tail off to keep that intimate relationship with the customers, and I think today is a great example of that. We feel like we’ve known some of these people for a long time.”
Indeed, Donati and Middleton interacted with the owners as if they were at a family reunion, with hugs and smiles all around. In fact, due to demand and the limited space at the Shipshewana campground, Donati noted that the rally next year will move to Elkhart Campground.
“This is part of the big reward of starting Nexus RV; it goes beyond selling a motorhome to somebody and making money or getting market share. It’s about creating a fun environment for people. It’s rewarding,” Donati said.
“And when you look at a company like NeXus versus the big guys, the customers are selling the product for us,” Middleton added. “They’re on social media, and when they see that we are interacting, we’re answering their questions, they see that we’re here every day as owners, we’re not absentee owners. That goes a long way with them. And because of them, that’s why we’re growing and having the success we are.
“I’ve said it a million times – I’ll probably say it a million mor – without our customers, we don’t have a business,” he continued. “So, we understand the importance of how we want them to be treated, and we’re going to make sure we do everything we can to give them the best service and product in the market.”
