Has Thor Industries outgrown Elkhart? Booming sales have company expanding elsewhere

But that growth is too much for the Elkhart area handle, so the RV manufacturing giant is setting its sights outside Elkhart for expansion due to a shortage of workers locally.

According to a press release, third-quarter net income sat at $111.3 million, a 41.6 percent increase over the same period during fiscal year 2016, while gross profit increased 45.5 percent to $293.8 million. Company officials say the significant increase in income and sales is mainly attributable to strong towable and motorized recreational vehicle sales, along with the addition of Jayco in June 2016.

"We continue to see strength in the RV market, as dealers and consumers remain optimistic and the prospects for continued industry growth remain strong," said Thor President and CEO Bob Martin. "As an industry, and at Thor in particular, we continue to make strides in bringing new consumers into the RV lifestyle. Over time, we anticipate this short-term trend will translate into longer term demand for higher priced units as customers adopt the RV lifestyle and eventually trade up from entry-level units to mid-level and even high-end units."

Martin noted that the RV industry has seen a surging popularity in RVs and the RV lifestyle, and that the company continues to make strides in expanding manufacturing capacity to meet market conditions and product demands. 

"Currently, we have new plants or expansion projects underway at nearly every Thor subsidiary, which will begin contributing to our overall production capacity in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 and early fiscal 2018," he said.