the name game

[gvO]

I'm just wondering why so many manufactures play the name game. the same trailer, with the same options, same manufacture... different brand name.
I know that in the auto industry GM does this with their Chevy and GMC line of trucks (Just recently they started to change the design of the hood, but in the 'old days' both trucks rolled off the same assembly line with the only difference being the name plate. but i digress, this is the rvforum and not the truckforum after all.)
my question is do RV manufactures play the same name game?
We are looking at getting a new travel trailer and have narrowed our floor plan down to the one we like. we have found that several of the Forest River brands (they all seam to do it, but the Forest River seam to be the most identical) that make the exact same plan (exact right down to the pound) under different brand names. Is this the same name game that GM plays with their trucks, or are there real differences between the brands. we visited both a Rockwood and a Flagstaff dealers last weekend and both claim that the brand they sold was the 'top of the line' and that the other was just 'entry level.' Not knowing a thing about the 2 brands i just nodded my head and smiled a lot. The same thing happened when i got my GM truck. but with my truck i knew the 2 brands were identical and i used this to my advantage playing one dealer of the other to get the best deal. i am assuming that the flagstaff is the more 'elite' of the 2 TT (what ever that means) because it seams like (localy) everyone and their brother carries Rockwood, but we were only able to fine one flagstaff dealer.
Any help or advice on this would be appreciated. with the RV shows in full swing we are looking to make our decision fairly quickly because of the 'great deals' at the shows, or is that just an other marketing ploy?

thanks for reading (the book) and hopefully we will be see you around a campfire real soon.

-gary

 

[Jim Dick]

Gary,

It all has to do with marketing. Two dealers in an area usually are not allowed to carry the same models. The manufacturer changes the name of the coach, such as Fleetwoods Providence and Expedition motorhomes, and now they can give the second dealer the "other" model.

American Coach makes the Tradition, Eagle, and Heritage line of highline coaches. When they began manufacturing the Revolution, which is built on the same production line, it was originally going to be an American Revolution. Just prior to all the documentation going to the printers, the bean counters realized they only had about 40 markets nationwide where they could place the Revolution. There was a big scramble to take any reference to American off the documentation. That opened it up to about 200 markets!! It all comes down to the bottom line.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The big RV manufacturing companies with multiple brand names re-use the same parts to build multiple RV with different names. As Jim says, its a fall out of dealer franchising. Sometimes the models are nearly identical and sometimes there are modest differences in trip, interior materials, etc.  that reflect different price levels.  Winnebago does it with their Winnebago and Itasca brands.  Monaco does it with their Holiday Rambler, Safari, Beaver and Monaco brands. Fleet wood does it too, and so on.