Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 08-19-2014, 07:02 PM   #1
Platinum Member
 
Davydd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 5,964
Default Sterling RV?

Interesting discovery department. I was at Lake Region RVs this morning. They just got in their first Alabama made Great West Van Legend EX. Note the tagline names.

GWVan by Sterling



Legend EX by Sterling



Proudly Made in Winfield, Alabama



Sterling was the company that bought Great West Vans.
__________________
Davydd
2021 Advanced RV 144 custom Sprinter
2015 Advanced RV Extended body Sprinter
2011 Great West Van Legend Sprinter
2005 Pleasure-way Plateau TS Sprinter
Davydd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-19-2014, 07:06 PM   #2
Platinum Member
 
markopolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 8,828
Default Re: Sterling RV?

Interesting find Davydd.

add Trillium Trailers to Sterling RV - http://trilliumrv.wordpress.com/

Quote:
As of Spring 2014, Trillium Trailers will be known as the Sidekick by Sterling RV, a division of Great West Van Conversions Inc. In recent months, we have relocated our manufacturing facility to Alabama to be closer to our clientele.
markopolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-19-2014, 07:31 PM   #3
Platinum Member
 
Davydd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 5,964
Default Re: Sterling RV?

They might be in transition with their name. Great West Vans has two problems. First, an Alabama company can barely trade on "great west" and secondly, adding trailers doesn't exactly jive with "van". Then maybe they two are keeping their options open to market cutaway chassis again as they once did with their Titan. Sterling is not a bad name to use. After the iPod and iPhone, Apple changed their official name from Apple Computer, Inc. to just Apple, Inc. Dayton Hudson Corp. officially changed their name to Target, Inc. after divesting all their department stores (Dayton's, Hudson's, Mervyn's and Marshall Fields).
__________________
Davydd
2021 Advanced RV 144 custom Sprinter
2015 Advanced RV Extended body Sprinter
2011 Great West Van Legend Sprinter
2005 Pleasure-way Plateau TS Sprinter
Davydd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2014, 10:30 PM   #4
Platinum Member
 
wincrasher's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Greer, South Carolina
Posts: 2,611
Default Re: Sterling RV?

Those Trillium trailers are a cool product, and a good option for some folks.

If they are expanding their brand it would be interesting to know what they are hoping to build their business into. Full line? Or segments? I don't see it yet.

But nobody will just throw away brand names. Too much invested, plus the market recognition. Tweak them, yes.
__________________
2019 Winnebago Travato GL
Follow my blog: https://www.wincrasher.blogspot.com
Our Facebook group is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClassBCamperVans/
wincrasher is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2014, 11:12 PM   #5
Platinum Member
 
Davydd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 5,964
Default Re: Sterling RV?

So far they are not throwing away any brand names. It is Great West Van by Sterling RV and Trillium by Sterling RV. It appears to be a refocus with multiple products. Besides they don't have that big of a market to worry too much about it. Keep in mind for many years, Roadtrek was Home & Park for a company name and the van was Roadtrek, not the company.

When I first started looking at Class Bs I kind of assumed Great West Van was a western Canada company because of the name and the Rocky Mountain photos they were so fond of. Little did I know they were about the closest RV manufacturer to me just north of the Twin Cities..
__________________
Davydd
2021 Advanced RV 144 custom Sprinter
2015 Advanced RV Extended body Sprinter
2011 Great West Van Legend Sprinter
2005 Pleasure-way Plateau TS Sprinter
Davydd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2014, 12:38 AM   #6
Rok
Platinum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 367
Default Re: Sterling RV?

Our 2013 GW Legend SE has the Sterling destination on it. Sterling is the name of Dave DeBraga's, (Dave is the owner of GW) fiberglass company, IIRC. I think he was trying to consolidate his companies into one company name or "umbrella" if you prefer, The Sterling Group, again IIRC.

It is nice to see that he now had product coming out of the Alabama plant.

...........Rocky Willson
Rok is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-02-2014, 08:48 PM   #7
New Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 1
Default Re: Sterling RV?

Were you checking uip on your old GWV? Looks nice in their ads.
firesail is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-02-2014, 09:53 PM   #8
Platinum Member
 
Davydd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 5,964
Default Re: Sterling RV?

I looked at a GWVan at Lake Region RVs last August and it had a "GWVan by Sterling" decal over the windshield above the passenger side. Then I looked at another one at an RV show in September that Lake Region RVs was displaying and that decal was missing. The side decal on both said "Legend EX by Sterling". My B said "Legend by Great West Vans." Their website has not been updated in some time so is still Great West Vans. Their Facebook page is still Great West Vans. They were at the Hershey RV show in September with Great West Vans banners and logos all over. However, I am wondering if they are just slowly weaning away from Great West Vans to Sterling.
__________________
Davydd
2021 Advanced RV 144 custom Sprinter
2015 Advanced RV Extended body Sprinter
2011 Great West Van Legend Sprinter
2005 Pleasure-way Plateau TS Sprinter
Davydd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-02-2014, 11:44 PM   #9
Platinum Member
 
Bruceper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Manitoba
Posts: 677
Default Re: Sterling RV?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Davydd
When I first started looking at Class Bs I kind of assumed Great West Van was a western Canada company because of the name and the Rocky Mountain photos they were so fond of. Little did I know they were about the closest RV manufacturer to me just north of the Twin Cities..
From Winnipeg Manitoba Canada to be exact.

Here's a link to a short news article about them having to close in Winnipeg.

Last winter here was brutal. In some areas the frost his 6-8 feet deep which froze water lines from the city solid. When they lost their water they had to be shut down.
Bruceper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-03-2014, 05:23 AM   #10
Platinum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 178
Default Re: Sterling RV?

Hmm. True but it wasn't just about frozen water pipes. It had a lot to do with Alabama and business perks there, I was born in Winnipeg and I agree. Winter was just about the worst last year.
Fastpaddler1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-03-2014, 01:06 PM   #11
Platinum Member
 
Davydd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 5,964
Default Re: Sterling RV?

It has to have more to do with economics than anything. It may have to do a lot with marketing. In 2011 Great West Vans didn't have a Canadian dealer. All their RV dealers were in the United States.
__________________
Davydd
2021 Advanced RV 144 custom Sprinter
2015 Advanced RV Extended body Sprinter
2011 Great West Van Legend Sprinter
2005 Pleasure-way Plateau TS Sprinter
Davydd is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT. The time now is 11:11 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.