10/14/06 - Captiva Ultra Lite Travel Trailer

MIDDLEBURY, Ind. October 10, 2006 — The Captiva Ultra Lite™ by Coachmen RV is a travel trailer that makes everyone in the campground sit up and take notice. Its bold graphics and aerodynamic design shout out that this RV is designed for adventure.

"This is an ultra lite that gives you enormous space and many residential features," said Kevin McMahon, Coachmen's Capri and Captiva product and sales manager. "We designed Captiva so that many of today's SUVs and light-duty pickup trucks can easily tow it without giving up the benefits of storage and living space."

Captiva's laminated Alumicage ™ construction utilizes aircraft-grade tubular aluminum framing on all six sides — the roof, floor, sidewalls and end walls — for strength and light weight. All openings for doors, windows, storage and appliances also are framed in aluminum for additional quality construction. Even the bunk beds have aluminum framing, allowing them to take weights up to 220 pounds. The slick exterior fiberglass skin adds the finishing touch.

Coachmen kept a keen eye on details during construction. A triple seal is used on each slideroom to maximize leak protection, and each Captiva is rain booth tested to make sure there are no leaks before it leaves the factory. All electronic and LP appliances are also rigorously tested to ensure they are in top working order.

"We listened to our customers and dealers before we completely redesigned Captiva for 2007," said McMahon. "We created each of the eight floorplans — four completely new in 2007 — to be functional, innovative and user friendly designs." An example of functional design is positioning the water heater to the off-door side of every Captiva. Traditionally on the door side, the water heater emits heat into the patio area. By relocating to the off-door side, the patio stays cooler, making it more comfortable to use. Another thoughtful, family-friendly feature is locating the bunk beds to the off-door side. Owners can now sit outside and chat during the evening without disturbing the children's sleep.

An illuminated stepwell provides for safe entering and exiting at night, and the patio light has an amber lens, which won't attract bugs in the evening. Another nice touch — a front mounted hitch light illuminates the front of the Captiva, making it easier to hitch up your vehicle or check LP bottles after nightfall. Hooking up the optional exterior stainless steel grill is easy with the standard quick connect LP hookup.

The underbelly of Captiva is fully enclosed for smoother towing and protection from the elements. As an added standard feature, all holding tanks are heated making the trailer a multi-season camper.

"We designed Captiva to have residential appeal with details such as ample counter space and plenty of storage," said McMahon. "The seamless countertops have a designer look and are easy to keep clean." Contributing to the spacious feel, Captiva also boasts a 78-inch interior height, compared with 76 inches for many competitors.

Captiva offers three designer decors — Cove Springs, Canyon Redrock and Catalina Coast — a color scheme for every taste. The thermofoiled cabinetry has a durable, scratch resistant surface that is easy to clean. The interior comes standard in Summit Maple cabinetry, light maple linoleum flooring and maple accents. Optional is the Camp White cabinetry, which yields a modern look with dark oak linoleum and cherry accents. Coachmen is unique in offering two cabinet selections for a trailer in this class.

Storage is a theme for Coachmen with its Captiva. For 2007, all of the shirt closets in the bedrooms were converted into full-length wardrobes. Select models with 81- by 51-inch U-shaped dinette booths have storage bays with large side access doors on the booths. Even the plumbing and wiring is designed to be out of the way for maximum cabinet storage. All models feature a galley pantry for additional storage. Rather than traditional drawers, Captiva has pull out tubs. This convenient feature allows the owner to take the tubs into his house, fill it with supplies and return it to the trailer. These tubs are easily cleaned with a simple rinsing.


"Several models have an optional bedroom lounge where the master bed converts to a sofa during the day," said McMahon. "We also introduced one of the first two-bedroom ultra lites with our Model 270 RS." The mats used on the kid-friendly bunk beds are wet proof. If one of the kids has an accident with a soft drink, the liquid beads for easy clean up.

Captiva Ultra Lite is big on space, yet its light weight makes it easy to tow with most of today's SUVs and light-duty trucks.

The manufacturer's suggested retail price for Captiva ranges from $17,500 to $24,700.

Coachmen Industries, Inc., through its prominent industry subsidiaries, is one of America’s leading manufacturers of recreational vehicles, systems-built homes and commercial buildings. The Company’s well-known RV brand names include COACHMEN, GEORGIE BOY™, SPORTSCOACH and VIKING. Coachmen’s ALL AMERICAN HOMES® subsidiary is one of the nation’s largest producers of systems-built homes, and also a major builder of multi-family residential and commercial structures with its ALL AMERICAN BUILDING SYSTEMS™ products. Coachmen Industries, Inc. is a publicly held company with stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker COA.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are inherently uncertain. Actual results may differ materially from that projected or suggested due to certain risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the potential fluctuations in the Company’s operating results, the availability for floorplan financing for the Company’s recreational vehicle dealers and corresponding availability of cash to Company, rapidly increasing costs of product components and raw materials that may not be able to be passed through to buyers, uncertainties and timing with respect to sales resulting from recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast, uncertainties regarding the impact on sales of the disclosed restructuring steps in both the recreational vehicle and housing and building segments, the ability to sell and close the operations for sale as described, the accuracy of the estimates of the costs to remedy the disclosed recreational vehicle warranty issues, the availability and the price of gasoline, price volatility of raw materials used in production, the Company’s dependence on chassis and other suppliers, interest rates, the availability and cost of real estate for residential housing, the ability of the Housing and Building segment to perform in new market segments where it has limited experience, adverse weather conditions affecting home deliveries, competition, government regulations, legislation governing the relationships of the Company with its recreational vehicle dealers, consolidation of distribution channels in the recreational vehicle industry, consumer confidence, uncertainties of matters in litigation, further developments in the war on terrorism and related international crises, oil supplies, and other risks identified in the Company’s SEC filings.