Grand Design RV was started in 2012 by three Thor executives in an 8-by-8-foot display booth at the National RV Trade Show. There, Don Clark, Ron Fenech and Bill Fenech outlined for dealers a new type of manufacturing company and listened to their feedback. Grand Design’s first unit came off the line in 2013. By 2015, the manufacturer had made 10,000 units, 25,000 units by 2016, and 50,000 by February 2018.
The manufacturer’s 400,000 square feet of facilities on 67 acres in Middlebury, Indiana, has seen incredible growth. In 2016, Grand Design added a 65,000-square-foot addition to one of its facilities, 60 percent of which was devoted to pre-delivery inspection. The quality that comes with the manufacturer’s 155-point inspection process on every unit is part of the reason Grand Design RV became the third largest travel trailer and fifth wheel producer in the RV industry in just six years. Winnebago Industries bought the company in 2016.
