At Winnebago Industries, purposeful innovation is about more than just pushing boundaries or creating the latest trend; it's about solving real-world problems with creativity and foresight. We strive to innovate with intention, focusing on solutions that make a meaningful impact on our customers' lives as they work, travel, live and play.
Every idea we pursue is rooted in a commitment to creating unparalleled experiences for our customers and unlocking new growth for our family of premium brands.
Winnebago Industries Engineering, Test and Technology Services (ETTS) was established 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. Over the next five years, ETTS 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 November 2022, Winnebago Industries 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 Engineering, Test and Technology Services 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.
In May 2023, Winnebago Industries acquired Lithionics, a premier lithium-ion battery solutions provider that delivers “house power” to support internal electrical features and appliances in outdoor products. This acquisition creates new opportunities to add energy-efficient solutions to our RV and marine products and to allow customers to have a more immersive, off-the-grid experience.
Barletta Pontoon Boats, was recently recognized with the 2024 Discover Boating® Minneapolis Boat Show® Innovation Award by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and Boating Writers International (BWI) for its center-mounted twin-engine pontoon boat, an industry-first and significant innovation in the marine industry.
By moving the engines to the center of the transom, Barletta Boats achieves significant performance and functionality improvements, including providing an unparalleled smooth and powerful ride, while creating a safe and usable space at the stern of the boat. The functional aft deck includes two pet-friendly, wide-step boarding ladders, providing a safer and more accessible path for entering and exiting the water. This is the third Innovation Award in the pontoon category for Barletta since its founding six years ago.
Our engineering test and technology services partnered with the Chris-Craft team to unveil a zero-emission, all-electric concept boat—Launch 25 GTe—at the 2023 Miami International Boat Show. This model relies on an electric motor and batteries instead of traditional fuel and engine systems, which eliminates emission and noise pollution. With a battery capacity of 133 kWh, the electric concept boat can achieve a top speed of 50 mph with an estimated run time of approximately two hours.
Innovation is key to our success and is one of the golden threads that differentiates us from our competitors. This program seeks to maximize the competitive and commercial value of our intellectual property and capitalize on the time and effort invested by team members in developing patentable inventions.