Jayco builds its 1,000,000th RV unit

Jayco Corp., the world’s largest privately-held recreation vehicle manufacturer owned by the Bontrager family, announced that in April its four divisions, Jayco, Entegra Coach, Starcraft RV and Highland Ridge, produced its 1,000,000th unit since the company began in 1968.

“We are very proud of our accomplishment of providing 1,000,000 families a means to fulfill their dream of owning an RV. It feels good to be able to accomplish, at such a high volume, what our father and mother set out to do nearly 50 years ago” said Wilbur Bontrager, Jayco’s chairman of the board. “But we’d be amiss if we didn’t recognize the great support we’ve had over the years from our dedicated employees, loyal dealer body, and the RV industry as a whole.”

Jayco, which was founded by Lloyd and Bertha Bontrager on the family farm in 1968, has grown from producing 138 camping trailers in its first year of business to producing 1,000,000 RVs in less than 50 years. In 2002, Jayco Corporation reached the milestone of producing 500,000 units and less than 15 years later was able to double that by producing the 1,000,000th RV.

“The time is right for the RV industry. The industry trajectory is good and the right mix of consumer demographics are in place for our industry,” commented Derald Bontrager, president and CEO of Jayco. “Building one unit at a time, for one customer at a time is our motto at Jayco, and producing our 1,000,000th unit, while an impressive feat, doesn’t mean we’re changing that or plan to slow down any time soon.”