COVID-19 cancelled this year’s Elkhart Open House Week, but RV PRO still wants to give readers a sense of what to expect in the new model year. Be sure to check out RV PRO’s entire 2021 Model Year Preview in the September 2020 issue.
Renegade RV
To attract more customers next year, Renegade RV is banking on two ideas: one conventional and the other not so much, for its luxe Super C’s.
For the Verona – one of the company’s bestsellers – customers will have the option of adding a cabover bunk. It’s a new idea for the Freightliner M2 chassis-based models, and Dwayne Kazmierczak, director of sales and marketing, says it should have the same appeal as it does on the Valencia, a lineup that uses the lighter-duty Freightliner S2RV frame.
“There’s a lot of buyers that really wanted that cabover feature and we were just reluctant to do that. Some of our competitors were doing it and so we found that we were missing business there,” Kazmierczak says. “We’re not necessarily cannibalizing our Valencia, but we’re actually getting ‘plus’ business from those people that were going to buy something for more towing capacity or a bigger chassis anyway.”
The bed, measuring a comfortable 60 inches by 90 inches, will be welcome to buyers stepping up from a Valencia with a cabover sleeping area, he says, noting, “It’s always been in the Valencia and part of the success of the Valencia is that feature.”
Adding features is nothing new, of course, but customers will see that Renegade is taking a different tack when its rear-lounge Vienna model debuts for 2021.
“We’ve made it a non-slide floorplan,” Kazmierczak says. “This is going to take that Class B van buyer or even the Class C buyer that wants the look and drive of a van but the box and the room size of a C unit.
“You’ve got more size than a B van, so that means you’re going to have a bigger bathroom, a better kitchen, a better lounge area,” he says. “We’re not going directly after B van sales but who we are going after is the customer who just wants a simple unit and it’s going to drive down the road very easily. We’ve found that a lot of these buyers aren’t camping in them as much as they are using them for transport.”
Non-slide units such as the Vienna RL are popular sellers for at least one competitor, so Kazmierczak believes it will do well for Renegade; its MSRP will be similar to other Vienna models. He says Renegade is targeting customers who’ve never before owned a Vienna.
For those dealers who haven’t looked into adding Super C’s to their offerings, Kazmierczak says it’s still a good time to do so, as the category is one of the few that continues to grow while other most others remain flat or slide down. One reason: Super C manufacturers just aren’t as numerous like they are in the Class A and C markets.
According to Kazmierczak, Renegade is enjoying its best summer ever as sales are reaching record highs. In addition, its orders are already backlogged into February, proof that Super C’s are in demand.
To view the Renegade RV preview in RV PRO online, click here.
REV RV Group
Holiday Rambler, a storied name in the motorized market, is adding to its line for 2021 with the introduction of two new models designed to capture both highline and entry-level diesel coach buyers.
The Armada will become Holiday Rambler’s flagship next year, while the Nautica will be priced below the Endeavor and Navigator offerings, according to Doug Miller, REV Group’s product manager for Holiday Rambler, American Coach and Fleetwood RV.
From a chassis standpoint, the Nautica is notable for using the Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. (FCCC) XCR, a raised-rail configuration of its very popular XC series. With a lowered rear section, the XCR will give the Nautica a flat floor throughout the coach, as well as provide flat basement-floor pass-through storage with a raised ceiling height for more space.
“It’s our first venture into a raised-rail chassis from Freightliner,” Miller says. “We typi- cally use the XCM – Freightliner’s modular chassis – on all of our other diesel brands, but we wanted to try something different to give our customers an opportunity to get into a really nice coach without the monster price tag.”
Powering the Nautica will be a Cummins B-6.7 engine backed by an Allison 2500 MH six-speed transmission. It’s a combination Miller is sure will inspire confidence for those new to driving diesel coaches.
“This will be the largest engine in a 33-foot Class A diesel, to my knowledge, in the market,” Miller says. “Anybody else running a 33-footer has a 300-horsepower engine, where we’re running a 340-horsepower engine. Any concerns about lack of power or performance will go out the window on these units.”
Holiday Rambler plans to debut the Nautica in two floorplans: one in a 34-foot length (34RX) and the other as a 35-footer (35MS), according to Miller. Those floorplans will be followed by two more: a 33-footer (33TL) and a 35-foot bunkhouse model (35QZ). All Nauticas will use the new REV-engineered, and MORryde International-installed, Delta Foundation atop the chassis for greater flexibility.
“We still want to give Nautica buyers lots of high-end features, such as Aqua-Hot heating and water sources, Tarkett individual hand-laid tile floors, high-line furniture and stainless-steel residential appliances,” Miller says. “It’s an all-electric coach, so there’s no propane onboard. We’ve installed a 6,000-watt quiet diesel genset. We’ve also got high-end features, such as high-mounted upper-cap-mounted windshield wipers, which aren’t found until you get into some of the higher-priced buses.”
In addition, the Nautica will have front and rear cap designs new to Holiday Rambler coaches, but the RV maker is most proud of the model’s interior finish, according to Miller. Everything inside, from the woods and materials to the floorplans, is appearing in a Holiday Rambler coach for the first time.
“The 35-footer is going to be a very unique floorplan,” he says. “It’s got one of the largest rear-bedroom suites in the industry. It’s got great seating upfront. It’s a quad slide. There’s excellent galley space and it’s got a universal entry into the lavy. There’s just a plethora of space in that rear bedroom and it’s really designed for ultra-full-timers.”
The 33TL also promises to be hit since it will use a similar floorplan to sister company Fleetwood RV’s Pace Arrow 33D. Holiday Rambler added an extra slide and moved to mid-coach entry door to the front for more flexibility.
Both the quad-slide 35QZ and the 35MS will feature large rear wardrobes, but they will have rear bunks, too.
The base MSRP for the smallest Nautica will be $270,000.
On the other end of the spectrum is the new Armada, offered in both 40- and 44-foot floorplans. Both will be built on FCCC’s XCM chassis, a chassis the new model will share with the Navigator and Endeavor. Both models will have independent front suspension, while the longer model gets tag axles, a 450-horsepower Cummins ISL9 engine and an Allison 3000 transmission. Each also will feature Holiday Rambler’s Titan Bridge, a subframe engineered specifically for its diesel coaches.
“We mate it together on the 40-footers and we have MORryde mate it together for us on the 44s,” Miller says. “It basically takes the front and rear drivetrain supplied by Freightliner and then bridges the chassis together as one to make a platform.”
The modular concept allows Holiday Rambler engineers to preplan the locations for tanks, storage, batteries, and inverters, for example, before the coach is built. Miller says it also creates the most functional use of space of any chassis on the road.
Inside, the Armada will come loaded with many high-end features, such as an integrated roofline awning from Girard, an Aqua-Hot system, power theater seats and full-tile showers. Still, the flagship won’t creep into an ultra-luxe price point, according to Miller, with an MSRP of $380,000 for the 40-footer and $450,000 for the 44-footer.
Among the floorplans, the 44LE is a standout and an exclusive floorplan not offered in American Coach or Fleetwood diesels, according to Miller.
“That’s an opposing-sofa floorplan,” he says. “It’s got a monster galley, a nice mid-wall with a fireplace and some decorative art where you can get an optional TV up in the front. It’s got great seating, it’s great for entertaining and it’s great for cooking.
“It’s also a bath-and-a-half floorplan,” he adds. “The half-bath is obviously going to serve the front and any guests or in-transit necessities. When you get past the half-bath, there’s the main bedroom suite. What you’ll find is a bedroom with open, ample storage and lots of room around the sides of the bed for nice nightstands to plug in phones and such.” In addition, large overhead cabinets with lines for CPAP machines for older buyers. Miller notes that it also has one of the largest showers offered in a motorhome, plus a private water closet, and dual sinks with a large lavy with plenty of storage. The 44LE will come equipped with a trio of rooftop HVAC units atop a molded fiberglass roof as well as an 8,000-watt generator. The 40-footer will offer triple slides, including a full-wall slide, plus a bunk house. A second 44-footer floorplan, the 44B, will be shared with the Discovery LXE. That model will have opposing seating up front, a large galley, a bath-and-a-half – and, like the 40-foot model – a rear bunk.
To read the REV RV Group preview in RV PRO online, click here.
Previously:
Lance Camper and Midwest Automotive Designs previews here
Winnebago’s Travato, Revel and Solis previews here
Grand Design preview here
Newmar and Winnebago Towables preview here
inTech RV and Riverside RV previews here
Chinook RV and Gulf Stream Coach previews here
Roadtrek and Xtreme Outdoors previews here
TAXA Outdoors and the Vanleigh previews here
Alliance RV and Nexus previews here
nuCamp and Leisure Travel Vans previews here
