Fleetwood RV is a producer of recreational vehicles (RVs). Founded in 1950, Fleetwood RV is part of

REV Group REV Group (formerly Allied Specialty Vehicles) is an American manufacturer of ambulances, buses, firefighting vehicles, recreational vehicles and other specialty vehicles. The company has yearly revenue of over $1 billion. History Allied Speci ...

. Rev's recreation division includes Fleetwood RV, American Coach,

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, Holiday Rambler, Renegade RV, Midwest Automotive Designs, and Lance Campers.

History

Fleetwood RV origins date back to 1950, when John C. Crean formed Coach Specialties Company in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

, as a maker of

window blind A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard mate ...

s for

travel trailer A caravan, travel trailer, camper, tourer or camper trailer is a trailer towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent (although there are fold-down trailer tents). It provides th ...

s. Around 1953, Crean renamed the company to Fleetwood Trailer Company, a name inspired by the automotive bodies incorporated into various Cadillac lines of automobiles. In 1957, the company was reincorporated as Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. During its first dozen years, the company moved from Compton to

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

to Anaheim. It moved again in 1962 to

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. Fleetwood became a public company in 1965, reporting annual sales of $18.5 million. The company became part of the Fortune 500 in 1973, remaining there for nearly three decades. By 1989, Fleetwood RVs sales reached the one billion dollar milestone; five years later, it hit the same milestone in its sales of manufactured homes.

21st Century

It was announced in November 2008 that Fleetwood Enterprises was closing several

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

across the United States. On March 10, 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the United States Code, and announced the closing of its

division. On July 17, 2009, the

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

American Industrial Partners ("AIP") acquired the motorized recreational vehicle assets from the company. The next month, Cavco Industries acquired the manufactured housing division. Fleetwood RV is now headquartered in

Decatur, Indiana Decatur is a city in Root and Washington townships, Adams County, Indiana, United States. It is the county seat (and the largest community) of Adams County. Decatur is home to Adams Memorial Hospital, which was designated as one of the "Top 1 ...

. In 2010, AIP combined Fleetwood with E-One, Collins Industries and Halcore Group to form Allied Specialty Vehicles. On February 2, 2010, Heartland Recreational Vehicles acquired the remaining active trademarks of the towable brands of Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.

References

{{Authority control 1950 establishments in California Recreational vehicle manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1950 Defunct companies based in California Defunct companies based in Indiana Private equity portfolio companies Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009