# Forest River (company)

Forest River Inc. is an American manufacturer of recreational vehicles, cargo trailers, utility trailers, pontoon boats, and buses.

## History

Forest River, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Peter Liegl after purchasing certain assets of Cobra Industries, where CEO Peter Liegl worked from 1985 to 1993. The company started by manufacturing tent campers, travel trailers, fifth wheels, and park models under the model lines Salem, Sierra, Sandpiper, Wildwood, Rockwood, Flagstaff, Summit, and Quailridge. Later that same year, they began producing cargo utility trailers as Cargo Mate.
In 1997, Forest River established a second cargo trailer line in 1997 called Continental Cargo.
In 1998, Forest River Launched Forest River Marine and began producing pontoon boats. That same year the company purchased certain assets of Firan Motorhomes to begin manufacturing class A motorhomes.
In 2000, Forest River acquired US Cargo, another manufacturer of utility trailers.
In 2001, Forest River entered the bus business through the acquisitions of Starcraft Bus and Glaval Bus.
In 2002, Rockport Commercial Vehicles, a brand of commercial vehicles and cargo trucks, was launched. That same year, the company acquired Vanguard Industries and the assets of Palomino.
In 2005, Forest River, Inc., was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway for an undisclosed price. As the Wall Street Columnist Ben Cohen noted:
"Liegl came to him (Warren Buffett) with a price in mind: $800 million. So he did some basic diligence. The next day, Buffett made an offer. The next week, Liegl came to Omaha. They met for 20 minutes and shook hands on a deal."
In the same year, a new luxury coach brand, Elkhart Coach, was launched.
Forest River continued to expand with the acquisition of Rance Aluminum Fabrication and Priority One Financial Services in 2007.
The following year, the company acquired assets of Coachmen RV, a subsidiary of Coachmen Industries and a manufacturer of class A motorhomes, class C motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, tent campers and sport utility trailers.
Prime Time Manufacturing, which builds towable recreational vehicles, was established in 2009 followed by the revival of the Shasta product line in 2010, one of the intellectual properties of the Coachmen asset acquisition.
In 2011, Forest River acquired Dynamax Corporation, which builds luxury motorhomes (class C and super class C).
In 2014, the company expanded further with the addition of production facilities in Silverton, Oregon, Hemet, California, and White Pigeon, Michigan. That same year, the company acquired StarTrans Bus.
In 2016, Forest River Marine added the Trifecta Pontoon line.
In January 2017, Forest River launched its new line of luxury buses, Berkshire Coach. In June of the same year, Battisti Customs was acquired.
In May 2020, Forest River acquired the REV Group shuttle bus brands Champion, Federal Coach, World Trans, Krystal Coach, ElDorado, and Goshen Coach. In 2020, they closed the Federal Coach, Goshen Coach, Krystal Coach, and World Trans brands soon after acquisition.
In January 2024, Forest River acquired the school bus manufacturer Collins Bus from REV Group.
On November 18, 2024, Forest River, Inc. Founder and CEO Peter J. Liegl died. He is survived by his wife Sharon, daughter and two 2 grandchildren.

## Subsidiaries

Forest River, Inc., though known best for its recreational vehicles, sells a wide variety of products including cargo trailers, buses, and pontoon boats. Below are the subsidiary brands of Forest River, Inc.:

### Buses

* Glaval Bus
* Starcraft Bus
* StarTrans Bus
* ElDorado Motor Corp.
* Champion Bus
* Collins Bus

### Vans

* Forest River Vans
* Mobility Trans

### Cargo Trailers

* Force Trailers
* Restroom Trailers
* AmeraLite
* Cargo Mate
* Cargo King
* Continental Cargo
* Haulin Trailers
* Lightning Trailers
* Rance Aluminum Trailers
* US Cargo

### Commercial Trucks

* Rockport Commercial Vehicles

### Park Models

* Cabins and Suites
* Summit
* Quailridge

### Pontoon Boats

* Berkshire Pontoons
* South Bay Pontoons
* Trifecta Pontoons