Forest River Inc. is an American manufacturer of
recreational vehicles, cargo trailers, utility trailers, pontoon boats, and buses.[1]
History
Forest River, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Peter Liegl[2] after purchasing certain assets of Cobra Industries,[3] where
CEO Peter Liegl worked from 1985 to 1993.
The company started by manufacturing tent campers,
travel trailers, fifth wheels, and park models under the model lines Salem, Sierra, Sandpiper, Wildwood, Rockwood, Flagstaff, Summit, and Quailridge. Later that same year, they began producing cargo utility trailers as Cargo Mate.[4]
In 1997, Forest River established a second cargo trailer line in 1997 called Continental Cargo.[5]
In 1998, Forest River Launched Forest River Marine and began producing pontoon boats.[6] That same year the company purchased certain assets of Firan Motorhomes to begin manufacturing class A
motorhomes.
In 2000, Forest River acquired US Cargo, another manufacturer of utility trailers.
In 2001, Forest River entered the bus business through the acquisitions of
Starcraft Bus[7] and
Glaval Bus.
In 2002, Rockport Commercial Vehicles, a brand of commercial vehicles and cargo trucks, was launched. That same year, the company acquired Vanguard Industries and the assets of Palomino.[8]
Forest River continued to expand with the acquisition of Rance Aluminum Fabrication and Priority One Financial Services in 2007.[12]
The following year, the company acquired assets of Coachmen RV, a subsidiary of
Coachmen Industries[13][14] and a manufacturer of class A motorhomes, class C motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, tent campers and sport utility trailers.
Prime Time Manufacturing, which builds towable recreational vehicles, was established in 2009[15] followed by the revival of the
Shasta product line in 2010,[16] one of the intellectual properties of the Coachmen asset acquisition.
In 2011, Forest River acquired Dynamax Corporation,[17] which builds luxury motorhomes (class C and super class C).
In January 2024, Forest River acquired the school bus manufacturer
Collins Bus from REV Group.[28]
Subsidiaries
Forest River, Inc., though known best for its recreational vehicles, sells a wide variety of products including cargo trailers, buses, and pontoon boats. Below are the subsidiary brands of Forest River, Inc.: