| FEATURE STORY Working Hard at Workhorse: Chassis Manufacturer
Challenges
by Bob Zagami, Contributing Editor Competition tends to bring out the best in all of us. Workhorse Chassis obviously subscribes to this business dictum. The upstart chassis manufacturer that was born when General Motors decided to divest this segment of their business, has also proven another business dictum: Bigger is not always better. Workhorse has laid down the gauntlet to the RV industry and has stepped up to the plate with a new chassis that will challenge the trends of the past few years where it seemed that everybody had to have a diesel motorhome. Diesels became the de facto standard for today's all encompassing homes on the road when the traditional gas chassis proved to be inadequate for the weight requirements of RVs with many amenities and multiple slide-outs. Work isn't just part of their name, it's the very essence of the corporate culture that was determined to challenge the marketplace and present an alternative gas chassis for today's discriminating RV buyer. Workhorse has announced the introduction of their all-new W22 chassis to the manufacturing community. The challenge now facing the company will be the education of the dealer principal and sales reps. While others will report on the technical specifications or product comparisons surrounding the new chassis, RV News will look at it from the dealer's perspective. Make no mistake about it, the technical specifications are impressive. The all new 22,000 lb. GVWR chassis is the lar-gest gas powered chassis in the motorhome industry ever. It is accompanied with the largest gas engine a new Vortec 8.1 liter that delivers 340 hp at 4,200 rpm (455 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 rpm) and an Allison five-speed electronic automatic transmission it is indeed a Workhorse. What does all this mean to the dealer? Let's start with an assumption: not too many people walk into an RV dealership and announce that they want a motorhome built on a specific chassis. For the most part, the typical consumer doesn't have the slightest idea what makes a chassis so important to this major discretionary income purchase. Let's accept the fact that the consumer will indeed know the difference between a gas and/or diesel model. This very rudimentary education would probably come from a "diesel mentality" that is rampant in the industry today. Ego has overtaken education and there are a lot of first-time entry-level diesel purchases being made when in actuality the prospect really would have qualified for a gas-powered motorhome due to usage patterns and financial status. continued RVN
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