Itasca (mobile home)
Itasca was a RV brand name used by Winnebago Industries Inc. from 1975 to 2015 . The production location ( Forest City , Iowa ) and main sales area were the USA and Canada , in Europe Itasca motorhomes were not on the market. The Itasca vehicle with serial no. 1, a prototype produced in August 1974 , is now in the RV Museum (RV = Recreational Vehicle, German: Wohnmobil) of the Winnebago dealer Jack Sisemore Traveland in Amarillo (Texas) .
Initially, the Winnebago and Itasca branded products offered by Winnebago Industries differed in terms of features, model variants and price, and each had its own dealer network. Over time, the difference between the products of the two brands was limited to the color variants and the model name, otherwise Itasca and Winnebago models were absolutely identical. Since more and more different retailers were offering both product lines, an adjustment was to be expected with regard to the branding . After the acquisition of the caravan manufacturer SunnyBrook RV in 2010 and the settlement of the dispute that had been going on since 1982 regarding the rights to the name Winnebago in Australia in 2012, Winnebago Industries pursued the strategy of further strengthening the Winnebago brand. In 2015 the export to Australia was resumed, the SunnyBrook RV caravans were now also running under the Winnebago label and the Itasca products were given the addition "Itasca by Winnebago".
With the production year 2016, Winnebago Industries took the Itasca brand off the market. However, the familiar Itasca model names were used in parallel with the Winnebago product series in order to be able to continue to supply the previously exclusive Itasca dealers and their customers with the common Itasca product names. For the Class A diesel products, the Itasca model names were dropped as early as 2017.
Information on Itasca vehicles:
Individual evidence
- ↑ Winnebago's first Itasca motorhome on the RV Museum website , accessed on April 6, 2017. (English)
- ↑ Winnebago on Guaranty RV Super Centers website , accessed August 15, 2017. (English)