On Friday, February 15, Hymer North America terminated their 900 person workforce, effectively killing the anticipated Touring GT travel trailer. The Cambridge, Ontario based Hymer North America group informed their workforce yesterday of the closure of the plant, effective immediately. The Touring GT travel trailer had been in the works for a larger release for a few years now, but never made it. It appeared last year that it was “this” close to hitting the US markets, as they had a nice representation of their trailers at the Elkhart RV dealers open house last September.
Hymer North America is formerly RoadTrek Motorhomes, makers of the popular RoadTrek Class B motorhomes. RoadTrek was purchased by German-based Erwin Hymer Group in 2016, and the plan was to use that acquisition as a means to bring Hymer’s popular Eriba Touring travel trailer to North America, which would then be built by Hymer North America in Ontario. However, that all changed in 2018 with the announcement that Thor Industries would acquire the Germany-based Erwin Hymer Group. As reported in the Toronto Star, “the $3.1 billion takeover was delayed amid an investigation into financial “irregularities”.” On February 1, the final acquisition cut Hymer North America out of the deal, effectively shutting its doors.
It’s a shame this is the outcome for a trailer that had a lot of potential, and one I know some of you were anxious to see. Who knows, once the dust settles, perhaps someone will acquire the rights to the Touring GT and resurrect it. Or perhaps Thor will find a spot for it one day within one of their lines. Either way, for the foreseeable future, it looks like the Hymer Touring GT will be a footnote in small trailer history in the U.S.
