ELKHART, Ind., Jan. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- THOR
Industries (NYSE: THO), the leading manufacturer of recreational
vehicles, announced today that it has entered into a strategic
partnership with TechNexus Venture Collaborative. The partnership
will identify and engage an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and
transformative start-up companies across the globe that will
connect and align with THOR to power its strategic initiatives. The
collaboration will accelerate the pace of innovation, improve
THOR's end-customer experience, and drive a number of margin
improvement initiatives at THOR.
TechNexus operates as a force multiplier between ambitious
enterprises and entrepreneurs to fund and incubate opportunities
that lead to new market potential, and ultimately new revenue
growth. To create a robust ecosystem, THOR and TechNexus will
identify and develop ventures that leverage unique business models,
emerging consumer trends, and advanced and new technology
applications important to the Recreational Vehicle industry.
Prioritizing early- and growth-stage companies globally, THOR and
TechNexus will accelerate the success of portfolio companies by
contributing industry and technical expertise, access to channel
partnerships, and the ability to launch and scale innovative
solutions through selective co-development opportunities with
THOR.
THOR's investment in this partnership will empower it to expand
access to the RV lifestyle – for the explorers, ramblers, weekend
warriors, and every adventurer in-between; and provides a pathway
to engage with next-generation technologies like autonomy,
robotics, electric vehicles (EV), and digital consumer
experience.
"Our venture with TechNexus is an important element of our
commitment to maintain our leading position in the RV space not
only today but well into the future as we continue to be the
industry leader in the identification and adoption of developing
technologies. The alignment of our internal innovation strategy
with external resources through the venture with TechNexus will
enable THOR to continue to move at pace and allow us to remain
agile. This partnership will be an important part of the engine
that will drive success in our strategic objectives," offered
Bob Martin, President and Chief
Executive Officer at THOR.
More than just providing capital for growing ventures, the goal
of this effort is to make it much easier for fast growing and
innovative companies to do business with Thor and to give Thor a
more diverse view of the technologies, experiences and features
important to our growing customer base.
"Our innovation strategy is focused on the next generation of
features that will materially improve the RV user experience.
Quality, functionality, sustainability, and convenience are all key
focus points of our strategy. We were excited to reveal our
electric concept vehicles and the innovation that drives them at
the Tampa SuperShow as well as to announce our partnership with ZF
Friedrichshafen AG. This partnership with TechNexus will
further power our innovation and global reach in a way to make it
quickly matter to RVers. Combining a robust entrepreneurial
ecosystem with our legacy enterprise insight at scale will make our
innovation process faster and ultimately more effective. Our
innovation efforts will elevate the experience of the entire
industry," added Todd Woelfer,
THOR's Chief Operating Officer.
"As shifting behaviors and new technologies change the way
people think about recreational vehicles – there is an untapped
opportunity for THOR to redefine how customers live an RV
lifestyle, and simultaneously connect with a new generation of
experience-seekers to discover RVs for the first time," said
Terry Howerton, CEO of TechNexus.
"We are excited to put the power of the engine that drives
TechNexus behind THOR to help drive its innovation strategy at such
an incredibly disruptive time in the history of the storied RV
industry. TechNexus' operating model has driven incredibly strong
results to our partners, including Brunswick Corporation, the
leading innovator in the marine industry."
ABOUT TECHNEXUS
TechNexus Venture Collaborative helps
leading corporations and ambitious entrepreneurs work together to
create new business models, new revenue streams, new products, and
markets. Learn more at technexus.com.
ABOUT THOR INDUSTRIES
THOR is the sole owner of
operating companies which, combined, represent the world's largest
manufacturer of RVs. For more information on the Company and
its products, please visit: https://www.thorindustries.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements that are
"forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking
statements are made based on management's current expectations and
beliefs regarding future and anticipated developments and their
effects upon THOR, and inherently involve uncertainties and risks.
These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future
performance. We cannot assure you that actual results will not
differ materially from our expectations. Factors which could cause
materially different results include, among others: the extent and
impact from the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with
the responses to contain the spread of the virus, or its variants,
by various governmental entities or other actors, which may have
negative effects on retail customer demand, our independent
dealers, our supply chain, our labor force, our production or other
aspects of our business; the ability to ramp production up or down
quickly in response to rapid changes in demand while also managing
costs and market share; the effect of raw material and commodity
price fluctuations, and/or raw material, commodity or chassis
supply constraints; the dependence on a small group of suppliers
for certain components used in production; the level and magnitude
of warranty and recall claims incurred; the ability of our
suppliers to financially support any defects in their products;
legislative, regulatory and tax law and/or policy developments
including their potential impact on our dealers and their retail
customers or on our suppliers; the costs of compliance with
governmental regulation; public perception of and the costs related
to environmental, social and governance matters; legal and
compliance issues including those that may arise in conjunction
with recently completed transactions; lower consumer confidence and
the level of discretionary consumer spending; interest rate
fluctuations and their potential impact on the general economy and,
specifically, on our dealers and consumers; the impact of exchange
rate fluctuations; restrictive lending practices which could
negatively impact our independent dealers and/or retail consumers;
management changes; the success of new and existing products and
services; the ability to maintain strong brands and develop
innovative products that meet consumer demands; the ability to
efficiently utilize existing production facilities; changes in
consumer preferences; the risks associated with acquisitions,
including: the pace and successful closing of an acquisition, the
integration and financial impact thereof, the level of achievement
of anticipated operating synergies from acquisitions, the potential
for unknown or understated liabilities related to acquisitions, the
potential loss of existing customers of acquisitions and our
ability to retain key management personnel of acquired companies; a
shortage of necessary personnel for production and increasing labor
costs to attract production personnel in times of high demand; the
loss or reduction of sales to key dealers; disruption of the
delivery of units to dealers; increasing costs for freight and
transportation; asset impairment charges; competition; the impact
of potential losses under repurchase agreements; the potential
impact of the strength of the U.S. dollar on international demand
for products priced in U.S. dollars; general economic, market and
political conditions in the various countries in which our products
are produced and/or sold; the impact of changing emissions and
other related climate change regulations in the various
jurisdictions in which our products are produced, used and/or sold;
changes to our investment and capital allocation strategies or
other facets of our strategic plan; and changes in market liquidity
conditions, credit ratings and other factors that may impact our
access to future funding and the cost of debt.
These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully
in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
October 31, 2021 and in Item 1A of
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2021.
We disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in
this release or to reflect any change in our expectations after the
date hereof or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any statement is based, except as required by law.
Contact
Mark Trinske,
Vice President of Investor Relations
mtrinske@thorindustries.com
(574) 970-7912
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thor-industries-signs-partnership-agreement-with-technexus-venture-collaborative-to-identify-strategic-opportunities-and-drive-margin-improvement-initiatives-301462708.html
SOURCE THOR Industries, Inc.