FLE Fleetwood Enterprises

Strategic Alliance With Bank of America To Increase Fleetwood Competitive Advantage in RV Market RIVERSIDE, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:FLE) announced today that it is launching Fleetwood Financial Services (FFS), a new RV finance unit that will provide innovative, exclusive benefits to its recreational vehicle dealers, as well as competitive retail financing to the dealers' customers. The core offerings of FFS were co-developed with Bank of America Dealer Financial Services, and are designed to strengthen Fleetwood's partnership with its dealers and drive retail sales by enhancing customer financing options. The new venture will provide attractive wholesale and retail finance alternatives, reduce dealers' flooring costs, and further enhance the competitive advantage of Fleetwood's RV products as they are marketed through its U.S. network of independent motor home and travel trailer dealers. "This initiative is more comprehensive than any financing program currently available in the recreational vehicle industry and we believe it has exceptional potential to benefit our business partners," said Paul C. Eskritt, president of Fleetwood's RV Group. "One of its unique characteristics is the scalability of the various wholesale and retail financing programs, which will allow dealers of all sizes to have an opportunity to participate, making them and their retail customers the greatest beneficiaries of this exclusive arrangement." Bank of America and Fleetwood have a longstanding relationship, and Bank of America has a leading share of retail financings in the RV industry and a major share of floorplan financing for Fleetwood's products. "Bank of America is an ideal choice for this venture because of its size, scale and prominence in the recreational vehicle financing arena," said Elden L. Smith, president and CEO of Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. "As a result, FFS will offer very attractive exclusive financing options to our dealers. We expect that the alliance will enable both Fleetwood's RV Group and Bank of America Dealer Financial Services to increase revenues, market share, and dealer distribution. Various programs and incentives will be employed to support our products; increase the value and importance of our relationships with our dealers, which should result in increased shelf space; and drive retail sales of our products. FFS is positioned to make Fleetwood's dealers more profitable as well as significantly increase the cost effectiveness of our marketing efforts." "We are delighted to have formed this strategic alliance with Fleetwood, a leading manufacturer in the RV industry," said Ellsworth S. Clarke, president of Bank of America Dealer Financial Services. "Our complementary market positions, Fleetwood's deep dealer base, and Bank of America's market-leading performance in RV finance are powerful elements in combination and we look forward to offering the resulting value proposition to our dealer customers and the individual buyers of Fleetwood products." Fleetwood was exclusively advised in this arrangement by Applied Structured Finance LLC. About Fleetwood Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading producer of recreational vehicles and manufactured homes. This Fortune 1000 company, headquartered in Riverside, Calif., is dedicated to providing quality, innovative products that offer exceptional value to its customers. Fleetwood operates facilities strategically located throughout the nation, including recreational vehicle, factory-built housing and supply subsidiary plants. For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.fleetwood.com/. About Bank of America Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial products and services. The company's Global Corporate and Investment Banking group (GCIB) focuses on companies with annual revenues of more than $2.5 million; middle-market and large corporations; institutional investors; financial institutions; and government entities. GCIB provides innovative services in M&A, equity and debt capital raising, lending, trading, risk management, treasury management and research. Bank of America serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Many of the bank's services to corporate and institutional clients are provided through its U.S. and UK subsidiaries, Banc of America Securities LLC and Banc of America Securities Limited. For additional information, visit http://www.bankofamerica.com/. About Applied Structured Finance LLC Applied Structured Finance LLC ("ASF") is a Seattle-based specialty investment bank that advises manufacturers on the creation of strategic vendor financing programs. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and information based on the beliefs of Fleetwood's management as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, Fleetwood's management. Such statements, including those regarding enhancing Fleetwood's competitiveness, sales, market share, and dealer distribution, reflect the current views of Fleetwood with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including risk factors identified in Fleetwood's 10-K and other SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the lack of assurance that we will regain sustainable profitability in the foreseeable future; the effect of ongoing weakness in the manufactured housing market and more recent weakness in the recreational vehicle market; the effect of global tensions, volatile fuel prices, interest rates, employment trends, stock market performance, availability of financing generally, and other factors that can have a negative impact on consumer confidence, which in turn may reduce demand for our products, particularly recreational vehicles; the availability and cost of wholesale and retail financing for both manufactured housing and recreational vehicles; our ability to comply with financial tests and covenants on existing debt obligations; our ability to obtain the financing we will need in the future to execute our business strategies and to meet the terms of our outstanding convertible debt instruments; the cyclical and seasonal nature of both the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries; expenses and uncertainties associated with the entry into new business segments or the manufacturing, development, and introduction of new products; the potential for excessive retail inventory levels in the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries; the volatility of our stock price; repurchase agreements with floorplan lenders, which could result in increased costs; potential increases in the frequency of product liability, wrongful death, class action, and other legal actions; and the highly competitive nature of our industries. Contact: Lyle Larkin, Vice President - Treasurer (951) 351-3535 Kathy A. Munson, Director - Investor Relations (951) 351-3650 DATASOURCE: Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. CONTACT: Lyle Larkin, Vice President - Treasurer, +1-951-351-3535, or Kathy A. Munson, Director - Investor Relations, +1-951-351-3650, both of Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. Web site: http://www.fleetwood.com/ http://www.bankofamerica.com/

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