A Ford automotive dealership in Wyoming has ordered its first Cortes Campers, the 17-foot, fiberglass-molded travel trailers that a subsidiary of US Lighting Group in Euclid, Ohio, recently began producing.
Beartooth Ford in Columbus, Montana, which also owns a Cortes Campers distributorship in Wyoming, has submitted its first purchase order for $385,000 to Cortes Campers, said US Lighting in a statement.
The campers have a manufacturer's recommended sale price of $48,500, according to the Cortes Campers website.
Tonya House, owner of the Montana and Wyoming dealerships, said the Cortes Campers order will be her first effort to sell travel trailers or recreational vehicles.
House said she expects the campers, which are made with 100% molded fiberglass and marine gelcoats, to hold up to extreme weather swings in Montana.
The campers also are light enough to be towed by sport utility vehicles, she said.
"I thought this would be a great addition for my business," House said.
Cortes Campers, which shipped its first travel trailer to Idaho two weeks ago, has a goal of shipping 20 campers per week by the beginning of the fourth quarter, the company has said.
The Euclid subsidiary is "setting up a dealer network across the US to sell the trailers," Patricia Salaciak, marketing director for Cortes and its sister subsidiaries, has said.
"We plan to have one primary dealer in every state," Salaciak said.
US Lighting's other two subsidiaries are developing personal watercraft and speedboats, as well as houses, all made from molded fiberglass.
Last week, US Lighting Group launched Futuro Houses LLC to make prefabricated, off-grid houses, extending the company's molded fiberglass expertise to the housing market.
Shares of US Lighting (OTC: USLG) were down slightly to 29 cents a share in mid-afternoon trading on Tuesday.
The shares have more than tripled in price since Feb. 22 when it announced its first camper shipment.
