Rising Manufacturer Phoenix USA RV

RVBusiness.com

Twelve-year-old Phoenix USA RV found a niche early in the decade manufacturing “B-plus” style Phoenix Cruiser Class C motorhomes — and has faithfully followed founder Kermit Fisher’s vision to build motorhomes that drive like van campers but are outfitted with features found in traditional minimotorhomes.

“Our advantage is that we have built this unit from the ground up to be a B-plus motorhome,” said Stuart Bailey, national sales manager. “The only thing that we are offering less than a Class C is the sleeping position in the cabover. My B-plus has everything that a 45-footer offers, just smaller.”

As the industry appears to be moving toward building smaller, more lightweight units, Phoenix USA should be, by all rights, well-positioned, Bailey said. “If I call a dealer to solicit business right now and say that I’ve got a Class C, he’s probably going to hang up,” he said. “If I tell him that I’ve got a B-plus, he knows that there’s a growing market for that — and he’s probably going to be interested.”

Fisher, the former president and minority owner of International Vehicles Corp. (Intervec), Bristol, Ind., once a well-known manufacturer of Falcon and Horizon van campers, founded Phoenix USA in 1996 in Bristol, Ind.

At first Phoenix USA built classic Class B campers, but the company migrated to heftier Ford Class C chassis in 2000.

Fisher’s thought, though, was to design a minimotorhome with a smaller footprint and an aerodynamic van-camper feel that would be easier to handle.

“I believed B-plus motorhomes would become a substantial part of the RV market,” Fisher later recalled. “We are a step up from the typical van camper but we aren’t big and bulky like typical Class C’s or Class A’s.”

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