Winnebago Industries President and CEO Michael Happe said the RV manufacturer’s various brands would consider tariff assumptions when preparing 2026 model year pricing.
Happe said in the short term, brands would determine whether incoming cost pressures would be greater than the manufacturer can mitigate.
“We are also preparing our model year 2026 product lineups and pricing,” he said, “and that will also have the opportunity to include some assumptions around tariffs.”
Happe added that significant unknowns about tariffs remained. He said the company would have a better understanding of the tariffs’ effect on Winnebago in early to mid-April.
He added that Winnebago was better positioned to respond to tariff effects than in 2018 or 2019, when the first version of tariffs affecting the industry was issued.
“We are going to do everything we can with our suppliers to mitigate that cost,” Happe said. “(I’m) proud of our purchasing and sourcing teams, but that does not mean there is not going to be some increased cost exposure downstream.”
This week, Happe visited Newmar’s annual dealer meeting in Colorado. He said he visited with several larger dealer partners—among the dealer chains attending the Newmar meeting were Blue Compass RV and Campers Inn RV. He said he felt good about the company’s relationships with the dealer partners across the Newmar, Grand Design and Winnebago brands.
He said, “We are going to continue to balance the pursuit of share…with profitability and do our best with product differentiation, good quality and good aftermarket service support to earn our dealers’ business.”
The company reported fiscal second-quarter net revenues of $620.2 million, an 11.8% decline from $703.6 million in the same period last year. Winnebago reported a loss of $400,000 in the quarter after reporting a $12.7 million loss in the fiscal second quarter of 2024.
Winnebago’s towable segment has a small increase in net revenues, reaching $288.2 million for the quarter, up 1.2% from $284.7 million in Q2 2024. The increase was primarily driven by higher unit volume.
Winnebago’s motorhome segment declined, with net revenues falling 30.4% from the fiscal second quarter of 2024. Winnebago said the downturn in revenues is linked to reduced RV sales, as dealers managed excess inventory.
Happe said Winnebago dealers’ motorized inventory remains elevated, with aged inventory higher than towable inventory. He singled out Newmar dealers for aligning inventory in a healthier position than in previous years. He also complimented Grand Design on its Lineage series rollout, saying the brand is on a trajectory to achieve $100 million or more in revenue in fiscal 2025.
“We are really pleased by the retail activity there,” he said, “and dealers are very excited about the three models of the Grand Design Lineage motorized line that they can see coming.”
Grand Design has released a Series M Type C motorhome and a Series F Super C motorhome. When Grand Design revealed its motorized plans in April 2024, the next planned release was a T-Series Type B motorhome, built on a Ford Transit Trail adventure van chassis.
