Thor Motor Coach

THOR MOTOR COACH of the two companies, and it was decided to use that synergy and create a new company.” Today, Thor Motor Coach has 2,600 employees who work out of four campuses with a total of approximately two million square feet of manu- facturing space in the Elkhart area.The company serves the entire North American market and a few global markets outside of the U.S., including Italy, the United Kingdom,Dubai,Oman, Saudi Ara- bia, and Japan. It has a network of over 450 dealer- ships throughout North America and overseas. “There are a couple of things that set Thor Motor Coach apart,” Krider explains. “First: we only build motor homes; we don’t build any travel trailers, or fifth wheels, or any other kind of product. And we don’t do anything custom. Second is the overall breadth of our product lineup.We produce motor homes that go from 23 feet all the way up to 45 feet and start somewhere around $50,000. That’s about the same price as a new, mid-sized SUV, except in ours, you can stand up, prepare a meal, sleep, shower, and use the bathroom. It’s all self-con- tained, with a generator, air conditioner, every- thing for about the same price you’re paying for a seven passenger SUV.” If you own a Thor motor home, whether you need service or parts, you’re going to find a location very near you and find someone who knows about the Thor motor home product. JON KRIDER CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER “Of course, we go all the way up to $400,000 and now you’re talking about something that’s built on a very large, Freightliner chassis that’s 45 feet long with slide out rooms that are 30 feet long,”Krider continues.“So,we’re at the mid-low end of the market.We have plenty of competitors out there that are well into the five, six, and seven hundred thousand dollar range.Those are certain segments of the market that we just decided we’re not going to play in because it only equals ten percent of the overall market and we’re going to focus on the 90 percent.” In addition, Krider says that its large distribu- tion network gives the company another dis- tinct advantage over the competition. “It means if you own a Thor motor home,whether you need service or parts, you’re going to find a location very near you and find someone who knows about the Thor motor home product,”he says. Immediate future plans for the company include making significant improvements to all