As statewide and nationwide protocols are set into action regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, concern has mounted over the production status of RV manufacturers. Recently, Oregon-based Northwood and Outdoors RV announced that they would temporarily shut down facilities in order to prevent the virus from spreading.
As it stands, there have been no announced changes from REV Group’s production lines, as well as THOR Industries and Winnebago. So far, all three manufacturers are taking preventative health measures as recommended by governmental health organizations such as the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization.
Winnebago CEO Michael Happe did briefly address coronavirus while attending the dealer event in Palm Springs, Calif., last week.
“As of about two weeks ago, we have initiated a crisis management process inside of our organization to be better prepared. There is a command-center group that includes me and several other executive leaders in our company,” said Happe. “In addition, we have five working groups across the organization covering a multitude of topics that are working to assess, understand, mitigate and manage risk. These workshops report frequently to the command center their activities. We will coordinate any changes in our business behavior from an enterprise level.
“We are first and foremost always concerned with the health of our employees and of our communities,” he continued. “But we are also working to make sure we have a calm, intentional, responsible and proactive approach to managing this situation. Our business, in the first two calendar months of the year of our company, was strong. To date, we have not seen significant reduction in retail dealer orders or our backlogs. We are not crawling into a cocoon from a business operations standpoint, but we will work with you as our partners to manage the business responsibly going forward.”
Similarly, THOR Industries will continue to monitor developments and act accordingly.
“As the coronavirus situation continues to rapidly evolve, THOR Industries and all of its subsidiaries are proactively taking steps to protect and support our global workforce and the communities where we live and work,” the manufacturer recently stated. “To ensure that we are providing the most current guidance to our employees and communities, we constantly monitor updates from the CDC, WHO, and other health organizations. In taking these actions, our priorities are to ensure the well-being of our colleagues and our communities.”