For Thor Industries, the past quarter of century has been quite a road trip. Founded in August 1980, it turned Airstream around and picked up General Coach, Dutchman, Four Winds International, Keystone RV, Damon RV, Cross Roads RV and Goshen Coach.
Self-described as the world's largest manufacturer of recreation vehicles and mid-size buses, Thor achieved record net income of $121.77 million on record sales of $2.56 billion in the fiscal year ending July 31, 2005. This past May 2, Thor reported record preliminary sales of $856 million in the third quarter of the fiscal year ending this July 31, up 17% from the third quarter of the past fiscal year. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, total preliminary sales were $2.26 billion, up 19% from $1.9 billion for the first nine months of last year. A record backlog is RVs and buses "bodes well for continuing growth," said Wade F.B. Thompson, Thor's chairman.
IW 50 Best Manufacturing Company
