Forest River has begun shipping Type B luxury coaches to dealers as the first product line from its new OGV Luxury Coach division.
The new division of Forest River is run by Tim Gray, the longtime Type B manufacturing innovator who began working with Type B motorhomes in the mid-1980s.
OGV opened in July 2023 with the plan to build a luxury Type B brand and a luxury Type C brand on a Prevost chassis inside Forest River.
“We are working with a number of dealers across the United States,” Gray said. “We plan to have 40 different locations where you can purchase one of our vehicles. We are working on the dealer agreements and state licensing now.”
OGV will launch with four floorplans, all built on the 170-inch wheelbase Mercedes Sprinter chassis. Gray said the floorplans are the most popular in the luxury Type B market.
“There are the most popular floorplans that are accommodating personal use, business use, tailgate and weekend travel,” Gray said. “They are the floorplans that are more versatile and keep the person buying them from being locked into one thing.”
Gray said OGV will lean heavily into advanced technology in its offerings, including automation systems and electronic systems. All OGV vans will feature Garmin’s ONE multiplex solution. The Garmin One system, which is featured on Forest River’s Palomino Pause adventure trailer, will monitor and control all OGV house systems.
OGV will also offer standard lithium power packages on all models. On its first four floorplans, the “Anywhere Lithium” package, offered in conjunction with Battle Born Batteries, includes 1,080-amp-hours of lithium batteries, a 3,000-watt inverter, 340 watts of solar power and a second dedicated alternator.
Gray said OGV expects its customers to want robust power systems, not necessarily to go off-grid into the backcountry but to power all consumers’ devices and operations when they are tailgating or parking during their trips.
“We know a lot of states are moving further away from generators, too,” Gray said, “so we want to be able to give our clientele the freedom to be less connected and to boondock if they want to.”
Floorplan options offer seating for as few as two passengers and as many as seven, with some models offering bathrooms and others offering full RV options. Future plans will include 144-inch wheelbase floorplans and potentially other manufacturers besides Mercedes.
OGV vans were unveiled first at the Tampa RV SuperShow. Gray said the manufacturer took two display vehicles—since OGV did not yet have a Florida dealer to sell the motorhomes—and received good feedback.
“Tampa was very successful for us,” he said. “It was very well-received and we made a lot of good new dealer relationships.”
