Have you ever wondered if the constructive criticism you voice about improving your fifth wheel is being heard? At least one company has paid attention – newly launched Alliance RV.
"Early on in our development process we started a Facebook page that has rapidly grown to over 3,000 members," said Bill Martin, Vice President of Customer Experience at Alliance RV. "Most of the people on this page are RVers, and most importantly RVers currently camping in larger fifth wheels."
"We started asking questions, sharing floor plan ideas and were very transparent with everyone on the page. With this, we were getting feedback as to what the common issues were with their current fifth wheel, and suggestions as to what they would like to see based on their experiences," Martin explained.
Armed with consumer insight, Alliance RV has developed the Paradigm extended stay fifth wheel, which launched in January, and debuted at several retail tradeshows.
"The feedback has been extremely positive with many people remarking how apparent it was that we listened to the customer with the design and features in our new fifth wheel," Martin told The Buzz.
The company was co-founded in May of 2019 by brothers Ryan and Coley Brady. The brothers brought 30+ years of experience in the RV industry to Alliance RV from their positions in senior leadership at Heartland RV as well as other manufacturers. Both graduates of the University of Notre Dame, the Brady brothers envisioned a different type of experience for RV owners and a different way of delivering their designs to RV owners.
Alliance RV was built from the ground up, literally. With the purchase of 110 acres of land in Elkhart, construction began on the 112,000 square foot state-of-the-art production facility. It was a $12 million investment.
Right now, Alliance RV is focusing on building a line of luxury fifth wheels. The Paradigm has 4 floor plans, with plans to expand to seven by this summer.
Kitchen dinette in Paradigm 370FB floor plan [Photo/Alliance RV]
“Plans for a toy hauler fifth wheel are in the early stages and we will be debuting a new toy hauler product this fall,” Martin admitted. “We will continue to build out our product offering through the coming years to offer an array of Fifth Wheel and Travel Trailer vehicles.”
Martin said that the target market for these fifth wheels intended for extended stays has traditionally been the 50 – 70 age range. That is slowly changing.
“There are a number of younger couples and families taking advantage of the RV lifestyle,” he explained. “Some are full-timing and working from their RV.”
It was the insight of both the traditional and younger generation of consumers that Alliance RV utilized in designing the features of the Paradigm.
“Instead of focusing on what our competitors were doing, we focused on listening to the needs, wants and concerns of the actual RV owners,” Martin said. “This is a very large part of what drove the design and features of the Alliance product.”
This consumer input provided guidance into what were some common concerns as well as what RVers wanted and needed. These suggestions found their way into the structural design elements as well as the interior design and features.
“To minimize one of the largest concerns expressed by RVers, suspension spring and tire failure, we have incorporated a very robust running gear system that includes heavier rated springs and shackles, along with a tire rated 320 lbs. higher than most other manufacturers,” Martin explained. “We are using a composite material called Azdel as the substrate in our sidewall construction process. Sidewall delamination is a concern in the industry where the exterior fiberglass skin can delaminate from a lauan wood substrate. By using Azdel composite substrate we are taking measures to minimize this potential.”
Other customer driven features added to the coach were a flush floor kitchen slide; dedicated water valve shutoffs at all sinks, toilets and washer/dryer prep areas; three high-efficiency air conditioner units as standard features; a 42,000 BTU furnace; dimmable light switches; and Smart LED televisions.
“We maximized storage with an innovative pull out fireplace storage along with flip top end table and dresser storage,” Martin added. “A soft close toilet seat and soft close cabinet drawer hinges are a couple residential features that help set Alliance apart.
“For ease of serviceability and for those customers who like to make their own modifications, we are using a color coded and numbered wiring system and will even be able to provide wiring detail upon request,” he said.
Elkhart, Indiana is one of the nation’s leading locations for the manufacture of RVs. It is a landscape dotted with factories operated by some of the top RV brands. But what is not in great supply here are manufacturers that are not affiliated with the big-name RV corporations. That is the niche that Alliance RV’s management is hoping sets them apart.
"We are one of the few truly independent and private RV manufacturers," Martin said. "This means that we don’t have external pressures other than to focus on the customer. We believe that if we build a higher quality product and take great care of our product owners, we will set ourselves apart from the other manufacturers."
“This started with our ‘crowd sourcing’ approach to inviting input from RVers to help drive what our product is,” he continued.
The MSRP range on the Alliance Paradigm product ranges from low $80,000 – $100,000. The Alliance website provides a lot of product detail, standards, options, photos, and virtual tours, among other information.
A dealer network that will serve the US and Canada is in process, according to Martin. In the meantime, anyone with questions about the Paradigm or Alliance RV is welcome to call company headquarters 574-218-7165 or use the Contact Us feature on the website.
Now that the Paradigm model is rolling out of the production facility and, hopefully, into the lives of RVers, the company is looking ahead.
“In the short term we are focused on expanding our current Paradigm product line,” Martin said. “Along with this we expect to implement class leading quality and enhance the RV ownership experience for our Alliance product owners.
“Our long-term goals for the company are to expand our product offerings to include a more comprehensive line of towable products that includes Toy haulers, fifth wheels and travel trailers,” he said.