EXHIBIT 99.1

COACHMEN INDUSTRIES, INC.

2831 Dexter Drive • P.O. Box 3300 • Elkhart, Indiana 46515 • 574/262-0123 • Fax 574/262-8823

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release, Thursday, August 25, 2005

COACHMEN INDUSTRIES, INC. DECLARES REGULAR QUARTERLY DIVIDEND

Elkhart, Ind. - Coachmen Industries, Inc. (NYSE: COA) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a $0.06 per share regular quarterly dividend. The dividend will be distributed on October 5, 2005 to shareholders of record as of September 14, 2005. This is the 92nd consecutive quarter that Coachmen Industries has paid dividends. The $0.06 rate is unchanged from the last quarter. Coachmen Industries has approximately 15.8 million shares of common stock outstanding.

Coachmen Industries, Inc. is one of America’s leading manufacturers of recreational vehicles, systems-built homes and commercial buildings, with prominent subsidiaries in each industry. The Company’s well-known RV brand names include COACHMEN^â, GEORGIE BOYÔ, SPORTSCOACH^â and VIKING^â. Through ALL AMERICAN HOMES^®, Coachmen is one of the nation’s largest producers of systems-built homes, and also a major builder of commercial structures with its ALL AMERICAN BUILDING SYSTEMSÔ and MILLER BUILDING SYSTEMSÔ products. Prodesign, LLC, produces custom composite and thermoformed plastic parts for numerousindustries under the PRODESIGN^â brand. Coachmen Industries, Inc. is a publicly held company with stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker COA.

For more information:

Joseph P. Tomczak

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

574-262-0123

Jeffery A. Tryka, CFA

Director of Planning and Investor Relations

574-262-0123

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