Winnebago Announces Expansion Plans

FOREST CITY, Iowa, Nov. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO), a leading United States recreation vehicle manufacturer, is planning to expand its manufacturing footprint to nearby Lake Mills, Iowa.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131120/CG21520)

Winnebago and the city of Lake Mills have come to an agreement on the 5-year lease of the 100,000-square-foot plant formerly owned and operated by Cummins Filtration.  The Lake Mills facility will be used for the production of Winnebago's Class B motorhomes; initially the new Travato model built on the Ram ProMaster chassis. 

"This is a definite win-win for us," said Winnebago Chairman, CEO and President Randy Potts. "The Lake Mills facility is much larger than our current Class B production facility in Charles City and allows us to expand our growing Class B motorhome line. Winnebago's Class B market share in the U.S. has been steadily rising with 17.9% market share calendar year to date through September 2013, compared to 16.5% in calendar 2012 and 7.8% in calendar 2011. With the close proximity of Lake Mills, it's very cost effective to transport components and motorhomes the 16 miles between Lake Mills and our headquarters in Forest City.  In turn, it allows us to transition our current Class B production facility in Charles City to additional subassembly operations.  We plan to begin the process of staffing and equipping the Lake Mills facility immediately with the goal of starting initial production by early February.  Our Charles City facility will continue to manufacture Class B's as we transition to our Lake Mills facility, and move other subassembly operations to Charles City."

About Winnebago
Winnebago, The Most Recognized Name In Motorhomes^®, is a leading U.S. manufacturer of recreation vehicles, which are used primarily in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities. The Company and its subsidiary build quality motorhomes, travel trailers and fifth wheel products under the Winnebago, Itasca, Era and SunnyBrook brand names. Winnebago Industries has received the Quality Circle Award from the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association every year since the award's inception in 1996. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York and Chicago Stock Exchanges and traded under the symbol WGO. Options for the Company's common stock are traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. For access to Winnebago Industries' investor relations material or to add your name to an automatic email list for Company news releases, visit, http://www.winnebagoind.com/investor.html.

SOURCE Winnebago Industries, Inc.