Thor Announces Record Sales for Second Quarter, 6 Months; RV Retail Sales Up 13% in Quarter

JACKSON CENTER, Ohio, Feb. 2, 2005 -- Thor Industries, Inc. announced today record preliminary sales for the second quarter and six months ended January 31, 2005.

Sales in the quarter were $537,000,000, up 26% from $426,000,000 last year. RV sales in the quarter were $479,000,000, up 28% from $374,000,000 last year. RV sales this year include $14,000,000 for CrossRoads RV acquired on November 1, 2004. Bus sales in the quarter were $58,000,000, up 11% from $52,000,000 last year.

Sales in the 6 months were $1,169,000,000, up 28% from $917,000,000 last year. RV sales in the 6 months were $1,061,000,000, up 31% from $807,000,000 last year. Bus sales in the 6 months were $108,000,000 versus $110,000,000 last year.

RV retail sales were 11,107 units, a record for the January quarter, and up 13% from 9,785 units last year.

Total backlog on January 31, 2005 was $449,000,000 compared to $499,000,000 last year. RV backlog on January 31, 2005 was $313,000,000 versus $405,000,000 last year. Last year's RV backlog included $44,000,000 in orders from Cruise America. We have not yet received Cruise America's orders this year but expect they will be at least as large as last year. Bus backlog was $136,000,000, up 44% from $94,000,000 last year.

Thor is the largest manufacturer of recreation vehicles and the largest builder of mid-size buses.