WINEGARD AND SILVERLEAF HAVE MERGED AS ONE.

[David Pratt]

I actually believe that this will be good for the RV Industry Both Silverleaf and Winegard are the leaders in electronics and wireless technology in the RV industry.

 

Winegard Company Acquires SilverLeaf Electronics

 

Winegard, a  designer and manufacturer of smart wireless solutions, has announced the acquisition of RV systems developer SilverLeaf Electronics.

Based in Albany, Ore., SilverLeaf is the RV industry’s go-to engineering firm for all things related to telemetrics and RV-C networking, Winegard said. This includes instrumentation tools, IoT solutions, and engine and system monitoring.

According to Winegard, the acquisition will bring some of the best minds working in RV electronics together under one roof with the goal of developing innovative and life-enhancing products for RV enthusiasts. Martin Perlot, founder of SilverLeaf and pioneer in RV-C communications protocol, will stay on as general manager of SilverLeaf and take on the role of Winegard’s VP of Digital Chassis.

“This acquisition gives Winegard a strategic advantage as we move toward delivering a seamless and connected smart RV experience,” said Winegard President and COO Grant Whipple. “SilverLeaf has some of the best minds in the business. Many of their products are the industry gold standard. I’m incredibly excited about SilverLeaf’s control and monitoring system, which connects to crucial RV systems such as tank levels, battery management, and power controls.

“Pairing this interior experience with a robust network connection provided by Winegard and WiFiRanger hotspots and data plans is exactly what RVers are looking for right now.”

Added Martin Perlot, “Merging with Winegard was an easy decision for me, and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s going. I knew Winegard would do right by my team. They’re one of the few family-run businesses still operating in this sphere. They’ve been connectivity leaders for decades, and Grant and I share a vision.

“Essentially, this acquisition is about talent cultivation in the search for product and service excellence. It’s also about fostering stronger relationships with our partners across the industry.”

 

 

[Joelsheriff]

While it may be good for the product advancement and availability it will be disastrous to the gen Rv pop since weingard is not interested in making it easier for its customers.  Twice I've had issues and twice they've made me climb the roof, take unit down, box up and ship to Iowa wait more than 2 weeks and I had to replace.  Weingard is not very customer friendly. They also are not very RV friendly thru Directv. They sell their product with no available service thru Direct. Jmho

[gburgman2000]

I agree, there will be no service after the sale from here on out.

[Steven P]

Winegard was actually very helpful for me on more than one occasion.  When we bought our coach. It had an older Winegard satellite on it that I was having trouble with.  I felt it was easy to get someone on the phone and they even stayed on the phone for 20 or so minutes after hours for troubleshooting. 

[Mel S - '96 Safari]

Congratulations go to Martin Perlot.

However corporate acquisitions are seldom good for the the employees of the company acquired, or for the end user. .... Look what happened to SMC , (Safari Motorcoach Corporation). Mark's Daddy's company.!

 

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Mel S - '96 Safari

[Scotty Hutto]

I definitely see some possible synergies with Silverleaf and Winegard in terms of "connected coach" possiblities.  As someone that's trying to modernize a 15 year old coach (that I plan to keep a long, long time!), the integration of connectivity into the coach to monitor coach systems has been very piecemeal.  If they can leverage Silverleaf's knowledge of RV-C, Winegard's expertise in communications, and work with some partners for end-use equipment, they could be a real force in standardizing coach electronics and communications.  IF they use their superpowers for good... 🙂 

On the other hand, I've had my challenges with Winegard support.  They're great once you get them on the phone, but that has always taken a while for me...