Forest City-based recreational vehicle maker Winnebago Industries is releasing its third quarter earnings today and reports one of its best quarters in nearly a decade. Winnebago president and CEO Randy Potts says revenues for the quarter approached $248 million, an increase of more than 13-percent from the same quarter a year ago.
“During the third quarter, we shipped a much larger than historical level of rental units driven by the Apollo Motorhome Holidays order for 520 units,” Potts says. “This rental order, coupled with demand for our other products, resulted in the highest quarterly revenues since 2005.”
During April, the company held its annual Dealer Days event where it rolled out the 2015 product line, including the Brave and Tribute models. “These models are very unique and draw upon our iconic styling, including Winnebago’s distinctive eyebrow design and the ‘Flying W’ logo,” Potts says. “These models are loaded with cutting edge styling and unique features not found anywhere else.”
Winnebago introduced several other new products and floorplans at the event which Potts says were well received by the dealer-partners. “We debuted the new Grand Tour, which is Winnebago’s flagship class-A diesel pusher product and its counterpart, the Elipse Ultra,” Potts says. “Both of these motorhomes take luxury to the next level and represent our highest price point products.”
Year over year, Potts says third quarter earnings growth was driven by higher motorhome unit sales, gross margin improvement, operating expense leverage, and a significant improvement in towables operating income. Potts says, “We are very pleased with our retail growth during the quarter, which is driven by increased rental sales and increased retail consumer demand.”