Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Fleetwood Homes history
Fleetwood Homes company history timeline
1953 Crean begins making travel trailers, changes company name to Fleetwood Trailer Company, but then switches focus to manufactured housing.
By 1954 the company had outgrown its greenhouse to become a thriving enterprise with three production plants.
The company changed its name to Fleetwood Enterprises in 1957, and continued to expand its offerings in the mobile home and recreational vehicle markets.
Having shifted headquarters from Compton to Paramount to Anaheim during its early years, the firm found more lasting roots in Riverside, California, in 1962.
1962 Headquarters are established in Riverside, California.
In 1964 Fleetwood acquired Terry Coach Industries, Inc., and Terry Coach Manufacturing, Inc., of El Monte, California.
1969 Fleetwood enters the motor home market through acquisition of Selgran, which is renamed Pace Arrow.
The company is subject to provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
The acquisition of Avion Coach Corporation in 1976 allowed the company to offer a new line of luxury trailers.
In 1977 the company incorporated in the state of Delaware, keeping the same name.
In 1980 Fleetwood shut down nine of its production factories: three travel trailer plants, three motor home facilities, and three manufactured housing plants.
A group of executives at Fleetwood led by Glenn F. Kummer, the firm's president and chief operating officer since 1982, pushed for a major expansion into mobile-home retailing, but Crean disagreed, arguing that such a move would backfire by angering the firm's remaining independent distributors.
Fleetwood, along with other companies in the manufactured housing industry, was the target of a class action suit filed in Delaware in 1985.
Fleetwood Credit Corporation (FCC) was established in 1986.
The four-year-old dispute came to a head in February 1988, resulting in a United States Justice Department complaint filed against Fleetwood in Wilmington, Delaware, seeking civil penalties in excess of $20 million.
The investigation resulted in a United States Justice Department complaint filed against Fleetwood in 1988.
In fact, the firm achieved $1 billion in RV sales in 1989.
By 1990 the company operated 12 travel trailer plants in the United States and Canada.
Fleetwood Credit showed a net income of $2.9 million in 1990, a 56% increase over the previous year.
In September 1992 Fleetwood acquired an 80 percent interest in Niesmann & Bischoff, a Koblenz, Germany-based manufacturer of luxury-priced ($150,000 to $300,000) motor homes under the brands Clou Liner and Clou Trend.
In May 1996 Fleetwood gave up on its European adventure, selling its stake in Niesmann & Bischoff and taking a $28 million charge for fiscal 1996 in the process.
Winnebago remained a fairly distant second at 16.7 percent, but Winnebago and other competitors had gained edges over Fleetwood by introducing popular space-increasing slideouts to their motor homes well before Fleetwood added them in fiscal 1996.
Fiscal 1997 saw the establishment of 49 Fleetwood Home Centers, which were retail centers selling only Fleetwood homes and designed to offer improved customer service.
Fleetwood's arch-rival on the manufactured housing side, Champion, had aggressively moved into retailing, by early 1998 acquiring dealers that had previously been responsible for one-quarter of Fleetwood's business.
The largest deal was the purchase of Houston-based HomeUSA, Inc., in 1998 for approximately $162 million.
1998 Following dispute over the company's move into mobile-home retailing, Crean retires from the company.
Revenues climbed steadily, reaching $3.71 billion by the fiscal year ending in April 2000.
In August 2000 the company reported its first quarterly net loss in 20 years, and it began aggressively restructuring.
Recessionary economic conditions undercut sales in 2000, prompting the firm to lay off 800 workers and shutter five plants.
"Fleetwood Lowered to Sell." Business Week, 1 March 2001.
During fiscal 2001, two motor home plants and ten manufactured housing plants were shut down, and 73 of the retail centers were either sold or closed.
In 2001 Fleetwood posted a net loss of $283.9 million.
After three consecutive years of growth, sales in 2001 fell to $2.5 billion compared to nearly $3.8 billion the previous year.
2001 Company weathers first of several consecutive years in the red.
Kurowski, Jeff. "New Fleetwood Management Faces Job of Fixing a Giant." RV Business, January 2002.
However, when Fleetwood's performance worsened during the first three months of 2002, Standard & Poor's downgraded its stock from "hold" to "sell." Some analysts criticized the firm for weak product development, as well as for failing to build strong relationships with dealers.
Rather than using a trade or retail show, Fleetwood decided to introduce its new all-terrain camper, dubbed the Outfitter ATC, via its Web site in 2002.
By August 2005 he had sold substantially all of the firm's manufactured housing retail operations and its entire loan portfolio to affiliates of Clayton Homes, Inc.
However, a $54.7 million loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2005 prompted the board of directors to conclude that new leadership was once again needed.
The FEMA orders totaled $129 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2006, enabling Fleetwood to eke out a small net profit that quarter.
Rate Fleetwood Homes' efforts to communicate its history to employees.
Fleetwood Homes jobs
Do you work at Fleetwood Homes?
Does Fleetwood Homes communicate its history to new hires?
Fleetwood Homes competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northstar Homes | 1994 | $4.1M | 6 | 10 |
| Marlette Homes Inc | - | $56.0M | 249 | - |
| Champion Homes | 1953 | $2.6B | 5,000 | 231 |
| Clayton Homes | 1956 | $2.1B | 10,001 | 431 |
| Cavco Industries | 1965 | $1.8B | 4,700 | 361 |
| Schumacher Homes | 1992 | $44.0M | 350 | 8 |
| Custom Homes Builders | - | $3.9M | 50 | - |
| PJ Fitzpatrick | 1980 | $37.5M | 50 | 77 |
| Fabral | 1967 | $127.0M | 200 | 1 |
| Metal Sales | 1963 | $230.0M | 450 | 29 |
Fleetwood Homes history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Fleetwood Homes, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Fleetwood Homes. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Fleetwood Homes. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Fleetwood Homes. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Fleetwood Homes and its employees or that of Zippia.
Fleetwood Homes may also be known as or be related to FLEETWOOD HOMES INC., Fleetwood Homes, Fleetwood Homes Inc, Fleetwood Homes, Inc, Fleetwood Homes, Inc. and Fleetwood Motor Homes-Calif.inc.