Sales pitch for SOB - true or false??

Barney&Genie · 12-18-2014, 04:08 AM

My husband & I stopped & looked at a Lifestyle RV today, just killing time. The salesman pointed out several things we really liked (soft close drawers, storage, roomy bathroom sink & the LARGE shower stall) and we saw a few things we weren't as impressed with (freely swinging door & tiny TV/fireplace area).

When he ask us if we owned a fifth wheel, we told him we owned a Redwood. He thought for a minute then told us yes, he knew that brand. He proceeded to tell us that every four or five years the company had changed their name and came out with a new & improved brand. He named off two names that he said they had previously been called that I had never heard of & we've camped since early '70's.

I told my husband when we left that I didn't think he knew what he was talking about. Told my hubby, I'd ask the experts y'all. Lol. So?

sinder · 12-18-2014, 06:40 AM

Redwood was started in 2010. They have had some Carriage DNA I house after the fall of Carriage a few managers and other employees came to Redwood. Eventually Redwood bought the Carriage name and some assets. Redwood's former President came from Carriage and up until his demise at Redwood, he fought to resurrect the Carriage brand. Other than being a subsidiary of Thor I'm not aware of any other previous incarnations.

Note that Redwood did briefly introduce another product line branded Blackwood. This model only lasted about 12 months on the market. I also believe they built an early preproduction Carriage model, but I'm not sure if it was ever sold to the public.

0nTheRoad · 12-18-2014, 01:42 PM

Dean & Pam are correct. Redwood was started in 2010 by a small group of folks who were with Carriage before it's demise, with the financial backing of Thor. Sometime in the 2012-2013 timeframe Redwood was folded into the Crossroads division of Thor where it remains today. The original GM for Redwood, Tom Montague, left RW sometime after the change and is now with Heartland [another Thor line]. Jim Lazzarino was hired as the new Redwood GM.

The Carriage name was purchased by Tom while he was with Redwood, he wanted to make it the flagship of Redwood and things were moving that way before he left, since then the decision was made to keep Redwood as the flagship line and Redwood has added the Cypress and Sequoia. The Carriage was moved to the Crossroad product family and I believe is in production as their flagship line now.

Barney&Genie · 12-18-2014, 03:40 PM

Thanks. I've been a member of this forum since we started looking at up grading our montana to a Redwood. That was my understanding as well, but I didn't want to call the salesmans hand about it without being sure of my facts. Lol

Dan · 12-20-2014, 04:31 AM

In 09 the Thor exec's wanted to produce a high end 5th wheel at a medium price in which Tom headed up the new line. He was given pretty well a blank check. To keep costs down and for simplicity sake they used the Crossroads division to handle the warranty aspect. This provided lots of mixups as some people thought the Redwood was a Crossroads product.
Dave may have more info as he was here before I was

mhs4771 · 12-20-2014, 04:14 PM

That Saleman must be one of the Redwood haters that's over on RV.net.
We're seriously thinking of trading our 36RL for a new 39MB with the Butler's Pantry in place of the Half Bath. So we've been looking at other makes with a similar floor plan and we coming back to Redwood as the one we like the best. Granted each MFR has some things we like, but Redwood seems to have the most features we like.

atom ant · 12-20-2014, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barney&Genie

Thanks. I've been a member of this forum since we started looking at up grading our montana to a Redwood. That was my understanding as well, but I didn't want to call the salesmans hand about it without being sure of my facts. Lol

We came from a 3400RL Montana. Love our Redwood! We just couldn't find all the stuff we wanted in Montana, but I understand the new Big Sky offers a lot more than when we were looking. Happy shopping!

lwg · 12-21-2014, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

We came from a 3400RL Montana. Love our Redwood! We just couldn't find all the stuff we wanted in Montana, but I understand the new Big Sky offers a lot more than when we were looking. Happy shopping!

Is The Big Sky positioned above or below the Montana?

superduty glampers · 12-21-2014, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lwg

Is The Big Sky positioned above or below the Montana?

Big sky is an upgrade package on the Montana, best I can tell.

atom ant · 12-21-2014, 06:08 PM

Keystone really messes with the Big Sky. It has always been above the Montana. It was a high end Montana in until 2004 or so and they dropped it. It came back in 2007 and they dropped it. It became nothing more than a feature package with paint and levelers after that, but 2014 it is back on its own as a high end Montana.

I really think they got tired of losing all their loyal owners to Redwood (like us), because the new Big Sky has almost all the features Redwood had a couple of years ago, things you couldn't get on Montana at all a few years ago, like wood around the windows, pull shades, dishwasher, ice maker, etc.

I think Redwood inspires quite a few out there!

**Dave&Ginny** · 12-21-2014, 08:32 PM

It's my understanding from talking with Tom, that the Newmar and Carriage folks came together and started putting together a list of changes they wanted in a new design. Then they went around asking people what they would want in their ideal RV.

Originally, the Redwood was on the drawing board as a high quality 5th wheel that could be pulled with a short bed SRW truck that came with items like a built in tire pressure sensors. However people kept adding and wanting more options so the Redwoods kept getting heavier and longer. I believe all the original people have since left Redwood.

0nTheRoad · 12-21-2014, 11:21 PM

I think Hilton was the last one out, with his departure it's now a whole new team
..

**Dave&Ginny** · 12-21-2014, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 0nTheRoad

I think Hilton was the last one out, with his departure it's now a whole new team
..

Chuck, I think you're right. I believe Kathy is still in the marketing department and although I don't think she was there at the beginning, she was there early on.

I don't think this is all as bad as some may think. New ideas can be a good thing and every team goes through a transition period over a period of time. Otherwise growth wouldn't happen and things would get stagnant. The competitiveness of the RV industry can be a plus for the RV buyer.

0nTheRoad · 12-21-2014, 11:56 PM

I agree Dave, I believe Jim has put together a team that will continue to grow the Redwood line. Change is not a bad thing as long as it is managed effectively. Redwood seems to be somewhat responsive, some of their moves are very positive, some others are not entirely to our liking but we must remember they are in business to make money and from my view they seem to be doing a pretty good job of moving the brand forward AND pleasing their customers. As long as they keep moving in this direction I see progress.

Funny, the real winner here is Thor, Tom's move to Heartland has helped that division and Crossroads/Redwood is moving forward in a positive way so Thor has to be happy with their towable market!!

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