Winnebago Industries, Inc., a leading outdoor lifestyle product manufacturer, today announced the development of a new facility and expanded resources dedicated to innovating next-generation technologies for the recreational vehicle and marine industries. The Winnebago Industries Advanced Technology Innovation Center will focus on incubating and prototyping new technology applications across a wide range of technical and product-feature categories, including alternative energy management and autonomy. The facility will be well-equipped with leading-edge technology and sized to meet the needs of the Company’s outdoor product portfolio.
Development of the Advanced Technology Innovation Center, which will be located in the Twin Cities, will begin in early 2023. Other details of the facility were not disclosed.
“Innovation is a cornerstone for Winnebago Industries. Our ability to excel in the market and further our industry leadership will hinge on our ability to advance the consumer experience through technology,” said Michael Happe, president and chief executive officer. “That is why we formed the Advanced Technology Group in 2019 and why we are now making a physical investment in and deepening that commitment to innovation by establishing the Advanced Technology Innovation Center.”
The focus of the Winnebago Industries Advanced Technology Group (ATG) is to improve the company’s ability to identify, evaluate and deploy industry-changing products and services within each of its brands across four key technology areas – alternative energy management, data & connectivity, material science, and autonomy.
“Our category leading brands have always operated with a keen focus on bringing innovation to their product lines. The Advanced Technology Innovation Center will allow Winnebago Industries to partner with the business units to augment those efforts across multiple technological timelines to meet short- and long-term strategies and goals,” said Shailendra Singh, vice president of Advanced Technology. “We are committing to combining Winnebago Industries’ growing bench of research and development talent, new technology applications and a growing ecosystem of technology partners under one roof.”
Over the next five years, ATG will support the design of a new generation of RV and marine products that will drive a step change in customer experience, a golden thread of the organization.
In 2022, ATG launched the first all-electric zero emission motorhome concept from a major RV manufacturer. It was the first public-facing example of ATG work streams and demonstrated a commitment to innovation and sustainability with product electrification, connectivity and improving user interface experiences for customers; the original direction when ATG launched in 2019.