27North readies 2027 vehicle lineup

A late August public unveiling is planned for the 2027 lineup of luxury adventure vehicles from a Springfield-based manufacturer, as the company is amid an operational shift.

A quartet of vehicle models are in production at 27North Inc.’s 4202 W. Kearney St. headquarters, said founder and CEO Pavel Bosovik. Two of them, the TR27 and the VOG 170, are rebrands for the company of existing vehicles in its lineup. New on the assembly line this year is the VR1 144, a compact luxury adventure van, and the Winston 27A, which marks 27North’s first foray into manufacturing a class B-plus expedition recreational vehicle.

27North officials say the Winston 27A combines the maneuverability of a camper van with the living space of a traditional motorhome. It is built on a composite shell with engineered suspension, off-grid lithium power and a premium luxury interior that doesn’t stain or absorb odors.

“We can both have commercial application and recreational application,” Bosovik said, noting the Winston uses a 3500 chassis cab. “On the recreational side, the beauty of that is you can tow up to 5,000 pounds, so you can tow behind a car, a cargo trailer. E-bikes today are like 50-70 pounds per e-bike, so you can tow a trailer for e-bikes, motorcycles. A lot of our clients will tow a boat.”

Delivery for the Winston, which is priced at $249,000, is scheduled to begin in late August, while the TR27 should be ready by September and is priced at $450,000. Both the VR1 144 and VOG 170, priced at $219,000 and $229,000, respectively, are available to order through the company.

The new line of vehicles contribute to 27North’s plans first announced in 2024 to invest $400,000 and create 32 new jobs over the next five years, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The company’s job expansion is benefiting from the Missouri Works program, which provides access to capital through withholdings or tax credits for job creation. It also is receiving assistance from Missouri One Start, a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development that assists businesses with recruitment and training needs.

The custom vehicle manufacturer’s workforce is around 40 this year, Bosovik said. That’s roughly on par from last year but double its employee size since 2022.

Making a transition
Bosovik said revenue for 27North finished at roughly $12 million in 2025, a 16% year-over-year drop. He said that decrease was largely attributable to the direct-to-consumer model the company is slowly implementing, as it is shedding dealers that have previously sold its vehicles. The primary desire is for 27North to own its distribution as dealers have been selling their products along with competitors.

“We invest a lot of money to get customers to these locations, and then our dealers are showing them our competitors’ products,” he said. “Then our competitors will discreetly raise the commission that they pay to the sales rep.”

There’s also a goal to have more connections with the customer, from taking the order, fulfilling it and providing service after the sale, he said.

Vlad Buzhduga is 27North’s director of customer service. Every customer who purchases a vehicle from the company gets his cell phone number and 24/7 access to visit with him about any problems or questions that might arise.

“We don’t believe our relationships with a customer ends when we hand over the keys,” Buzhduga said. “That’s really where it all begins. Our goal is to support every customer throughout their adventures, wherever they are, not just wherever their service centers and where the dealers are at.”

While Buzhduga said he’s willing to take calls from customers at any time, day or night, those off-hour contacts only happen maybe a few times a week.

“Around 90% of the time they’re able to fix the issue on their own without having to spend weeks and months at dealerships,” he said.

Bosovik said the current decline of the RV industry also has had a negative impact on 27North’s relationship with most dealers. According to the RV Industry Association, total RV shipments ended May with 22,900 units, a nearly 19% decrease from a year prior.

“Our dealers were putting a lot of pressure on us to pay the interest on their floorplans that they use to purchase our inventory to discount prices,” he said. “They wanted to liquidate inventory and make us pay. It was just really diluting the brand and margins, versus us selling direct to consumer.

“We set the prices as fixed prices, and we don’t have to carry the burden of our dealers not being able to quickly turn our product,” he said.

A few dealers still wanted to work with 27North’s new business model, Bosovik said.

They include Fresno, California-based RV Country Inc., which sells in states such as California, Oregon and Washington, and Florda-based Gerzeny’s RV World.

“We process the sale, deliver it to their location and the customer picks it up,” he said, adding the dealer is paid a flat rate fee.

As the direct-to-consumer transition should wrap up this year, Bosovik said a flat year for revenue is expected with growth projected in 2027.

“Our goal is to do $12 million again this year,” he said.

While Bosovik said higher gas prices and interest rates nationwide have certainly impacted the RV industry, those are not significant factors at 27North.

“Thankfully for us, we target the top 4% of the motor home industry and so our customers aren’t ones that are impacted by fuel prices or high interest rates,” he said.

On hold
When 27North held a grand opening in 2024 for its $6.5 million, 50,100-square-foot headquarters, Bosovik envisioned plans to expand its current location by another 330,000 square feet on two lots. However, those plans are currently on the backburner. He projects a 2029 groundbreaking and 2030 completion of construction.

Counting SRC Holdings Corp. president and CEO Jack Stack as one of his mentors, Bosovik said the longtime manufacturing leader once told him that it takes five years to do anything great.

“So, I’m just being conservative on that,” Bosovik said of the expansion plan.

That timeline projection could be moved up if the company hits financial projections next year and builds up its backlog to $50 million.

“It’s a lot easier to accelerate something than to have to push back deadlines again,” he said. “Right now, we just passed a backlog of $13 million.”