Fleetwood® RV – Company History

At Day Bros RV Sales in London Kentucky and Lake Park, Georgia, we have a great selection of recreational vehicles and accessories. One of the companies we work with is Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc, which prides 0cee2002-378c-44ab-8d97-facaac4bb004 itself on being a leading national producer of manufactured housing and recreational vehicles. Read on below to learn about the history of Fleetwood, and when you’re ready to shop, come visit our dealership to see our inventory. Our professional team will be happy to help you find what you need.

Early History

Fleetwood was founded by John C. Crean, the company’s current chairman and CEO, in 1950, in southern California. Initially, the company operated under the name Coach Specialties Company, and focused on selling a new and improved line of window blinds for travel trailers. After building his own trailer, one of Crean’s customers, a trailer dealer, was impressed enough with its construction that he contracted with Crean to assemble trailers. Crean expanded his building repertoire to include mobile homes, which helped the new business achieve more stable growth. As the company moved into manufactured housing, Mr. Crean chose the name Fleetwood, inspired by a line of automobiles. By the mid-1950s, the company had expanded its manufacturing to three production plants.

Expansion and Growth

The company changed its name to Fleetwood Enterprises in 1957, and continued to expand its offerings in the mobile home and recreational vehicle markets. The company began incorporating sleeping, eating, and bathroom facilities in its travel trailers, satiating a growing American desire to travel, which was spurred immensely by the newly created Interstate Highway system.

The company continued to grow, and it began to acquire other businesses as it expanded. In 1964, Fleetwood bought Terry Coach Industries, Inc., and Terry Coach Manufacturing, Inc. It was around this time that the company began to produce a line of fifth-wheel trailers, designed to be towed by large pickup trucks. In 1965, the company went public.

Fleetwood focused on expanding its offerings by acquiring Pace-Arrow, Inc., a company that manufactured motorhomes, which fit into Fleetwood’s RV-related business model. Thus, by adding motorhomes to their line of travel trailers, Fleetwood continued to be perfectly positioned to take advantage of America’s continued desire to travel, and to offer a diverse and exciting line of products for a variety of travel styles.

The acquisition of Avion Coach Corporation in 1976 allowed the company to offer a new line of luxury trailers. The company weathered the gasoline crisis and recession of the 1970s, which forced Fleetwood to close nine production plants. This challenging time forced Fleetwood to refocus its product line and its management style, building itself into a lean and nimble company that would be able to react quickly to market changes. This restructuring allowed the company to expand rapidly in the 1980s, and to weather the recession in the early 1990s. In more recent years, the company has continued to diversify, reimagine, and refocus its energies on becoming a customer-focused, innovative company making a quality line of products for a variety of markets, from mobile homes to travel trailers to fifth wheels, manufactured homes, and more. Today, the company boasts that it will remain the number one manufacturer of mobile homes, manufactured houses, and RVs into the 21st century.

Fleetwood is one of a number of companies that we work with, and we invite you to visit our dealership to see Fleetwood’s line of products for yourself. Whether you’re looking for an RV, a mobile home, a fifth wheel, or you’d just like to know more, our friendly and knowledgeable team will be happy to give you all of the information you might need. Come see us at Day Bros. RV Sales today!

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