Winnebago Horizon is RVBusiness RV of the Year
RVBusiness Publisher Sherman Goldenberg (L) presents the RV of the Year award to Winnebago’s Brian Hazelton (C), vice president and general manager, motorhomes, and Ryan Roske, product manager for Class A diesel
The 2018 RVBusiness RV of the Year, as RVIA National RV Trade Show attendees learned this week during a packed first-ever RV Industry Awards event at the Mercury Ballroom in Louisville, Ky., is Winnebago Industries Inc.’s high-end Horizon Class A diesel motorhome with its authentically different modernistic interiors designed by the Iowa manufacturer’s in-house staff with input from Italian supplier Technoform S.p.A.
The 41- to 43-foot Horizon’s ultra-contemporary interiors feature high-gloss laminates, radius doors, plenty of stainless steel and backlit translucent panels – the kind of look that Winnebago President and CEO Mike Happe said is more likely found “in a Manhattan condo or London flat.”
It’s also a motif that, the RVB staff concluded, could well impact recreation vehicle product development down the road in coaches selling for considerably less than the $430,000 Horizon. The wall panels in the Horizon, built on a hybrid Maxum chassis and a customized Freightliner platform mated to a 450-horsepower Cummins engine, contain storage compartments with soft close doors and easy-access, pull-out shelf systems, which project the look of a high-end European yacht.