RVBusiness, July/August 2020

The new Operations Building Class C Wayfarer Helps Keep Customers in the Tiffin Family Now in its fourth model year the Class C division of Tiffin Motorhomes Inc has quickly made a name for itself in the rapidly growing small motorhome segment with its Mercedes Benz Sprinter based Wayfarer brand Tim Tiffin vice president of operations for the division told RVBusiness the last three and a half years have just flown by as the company has endeavored to develop the Wayfarer into the nimble yet refined Class C motorhome it is today We decided to enter this market because a lot of our customers were downsizing and getting out of our brand because we just didnt have anything to sell them Tiffin told RVBusiness Hes pleased with the progres thus far he added Its been good Its been a real learning experience because the last time wed built anything this small was back in the late 80s and we just havent been in this position since he said We were a little bit late to the game for sure But I think were catching up a little bit now Tiffin suspects the Wayfarer has fared better than the Astro based Allegro 1986 89 because its being built at a separate production campus in Winfield Ala about an hour south of the corporate headquarters and Class A campus in Red Bay Ala It really needs to be in a different place than the Class As and diesel pushers its so much smaller so much different Its hard to build both in the same facility he said Our campus here is much smaller than Red Bay Weve got a main production facility and then just a few steps away we have our small paint facility So the motorhomes are built very similar to how we build in Red Bay but everything here is geared toward small motorhomes When asked what has made the Wayfarer lineup so successful Tiffin said the line takes a lot of cues from the companys Class A motorhomes yet the units are engineered specifically for a small motorhome By the late summer or early fall the line will have four floorplans he mentioned and even hinted that they are dabbling in some other product lines with different chassis Thatll probably be this winter late fourth quarter sometime he said Were going to try to hit various parts of the small motorhome market and just not limit ourselves to one particular chassis or one particular vision but try to hit a broad market and see what we come up with Looking forward Tiffin said the plan is to continue to develop a core group of customers who look to trade in every few years and at the same time bring new customers in the fold so they have enough business that they can maintain a decent volume on a consistent basis And you do that by trying to make a product that the dealers can sell he pointed out As long as they can do that then we can keep churning out motorhomes and getting better at it Its a long term project and Im not in a super hurry to capture a ton of market real quick Well just be methodical about how we approach it and try to always learn to make the best product we can and if we can do that then I think well always be in pretty good shape J U L Y A U G U S T 2 0 2 0 R V Busine ss 35 tion and Gov Kay Ivey came out with Tiffin Vice President of Class A Operations Van Tiffin said the resumption of production is on track despite some supplier issues most notably the exit from the RV sector of long standing furniture maker Flexsteel Industries Inc Dubuque Iowa Right now with Flexsteel no longer building RV furniture thats posed a problem for us said Tiffin So were working through some key shortages such as that though furniture is the main hiccup weve had Our motorized production rate is eight per day right now and weve had great response from our employees coming back to work he added Theyve been very eager to be here and are doing just a phenomenal job So were very satisfied with our workforce at the moment Were circling around two fifth wheels per day at our Vanleigh Vanleigh RV Inc plant in Burnsville and were anticipating going to three a day Baer said production rates at the Wayfarer Class C facility in Winfield were similar accelerating from two to three a day In addition to the Wayfarer Tiffin Motorhomes includes the Vanleigh RV fifthwheel division in Burnsville Tiffins main campus in Red Bay is still churning out the companys gas and diesel powered Class A motorhomes ranging from the gas powered Open Road Allegro 165003 base MSRP to the top of the line Zephyr diesel pusher 652239 In between are the diesel fueled Allegro RED 340 252083 Allegro Breeze 275500 Allegro RED 276080 Phaeton 329150 and Allegro Bus 413175 All pandemic conversations aside President Bob Tiffin sees his company continuing to secure its position as one of the leading Class A motorhome manufacturers Weve done so well because weve always been blessed beyond measure said Tiffin whos steered the company since the 1970 s This is the way it is and its because we know how to take care of customers We have always done that We take care of our customers at the service department and at the dealership You cant imagine how many phone calls we get a day Even though Mondays are usually somewhat slower we received 900 and something calls last Monday in our service department We talk to our customers all the time he continued And so when they get ready to buy a new motorhome they dont look around too much They look us up Weve been in business nearly 50 years now We started in 1972 and have never ever mistreated one customer We always try to handle things really well with our customers We take care of them and try to end those service related conversations on a good note Thats what weve always done So thats the reason when things get a little tough its not so hard for us to come back added Tiffin New Operations Building The Tiffin campus in Red Bay a town of about 3150 people on the Alabama Mississippi border is a sight to behold with all A Tiffin employee with mask readies wiring for installation