Winnebago will open innovation center next year in Twin Cities

Eden Prairie-based Winnebago Industries Inc. will build a new innovation center in the Twin Cities next year.

The 40,000-square-foot center is for its Advanced Technology Group, formed in 2019 to explore and develop new innovations across its brands, which include Winnebago, Newmar and Chris-Craft.

"Our ability to excel in the market and further our industry leadership will hinge on our ability to advance the consumer experience through technology," said Winnebago CEO Michael Happe in a news release.

Each Winnebago business unit has its own product developers and engineers for new models and features. The Advanced Technology Group, though, takes a longer view of innovation for recreational vehicles and boats.

"We really want the advanced technology team to look at technologies which are going to be five, seven, 10 years out and work with the business units in a very collaborative fashion," said Ashis Bhattacharya, senior vice president of business development.

The company is not releasing yet the cost and location of the center because negotiations are still underway, but it will include laboratory and office space, plus space for the vehicles, Bhattacharya said. It should be open by May or June.

The first big public display of the Advanced Technology Group's work was the introduction of Winnebago's electric RV concept vehicle this year. That vehicle earned its bona fides over the year as Winnebago brought it across the country to various trade shows and completed a 1,300-mile road trip with it from Washington, D.C., back to Eden Prairie.

The group has a core team of 10 to 15 employees and brings in people with specialty skills from inside and outside the organization. "We have a big ecosystem of partners that we work with," Bhattacharya said.

Bhattacharya said the company looks for inspiration from within the RV industry, but also other vehicle sectors. Winnebago also is doing consumer research on how people will participate in the outdoors in the future, which would inform what features and even products might be developed.

Some of that research will be shared publicly.

"I'm a huge fan of systematic customer research and an obsession over customers." Bhattacharya said. "Since I came into Winnebago 6½ years back, I have been a big sponsor of customer research across the company."