By Bruce Schreiner
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- American families are ready to hitch up their trailers and tow the RV industry out of its worst stretch in nearly two decades.
The industry was driven into the ditch last year by the Great Recession. Sales plunged, plants closed and thousands of jobs were cut as orders for recreational vehicles dropped to their worse level since 1991.
Now, RV makers such as Winnebago are starting to turn profits and have begun to hire. And dealers are ordering more RVs for their showrooms. This year, shipments of RVs ranging from entry-level pop-ups to spacious motor homes are expected to hit their highest level since 2007, when the economic downturn began.
The upswing is a sign that somewhat looser credit, stable fuel prices and improved consumer confidence are inspiring Americans to buy more RVs.
Typical RV buyers are people between 35 and 54 with disposable income. They're starting to buy again, say industry leaders and dealers who convened at a trade show in Louisville this week. But a growing share of RV sales come from families choosing less expensive towable RVs, including folding camping trailers, or pop-ups. Those towables are smaller and cost a fraction of the price of amenity-filled motor homes favored by older travelers.
Before the recession hit, towables accounted for eight out of every 10 new RV shipments. Now they make up about nine out of 10 RVs shipped to dealers.
Towables, attached to pickups or hitched to the back of another vehicle, cost between $4,000 and $100,000, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. Stand-alone motor homes can start at about $41,000 for van-like RVs, according to the industry group, while spacious, bus-like vehicles can run as much as $400,000 for top-of-the-line models. And that's before the cost of gas. Big RVs can get as little as 8 mpg.
The industry is looking for a recovery across all RV models.
It expects shipments from manufacturers to dealers to hit 236,700 in 2010, up 43 percent from last year's nearly 20-year low of 165,700. Through October, shipments have risen nearly 53 percent from the same period in 2009, according to RVIA. In 2011, shipments are forecast to reach 246,000.
Higher shipments mean dealers expect retail sales to rise. While the two don't always correlate, there are signs that sales will, in fact, grow in the mid-single digits in 2011 "with a bias toward cheaper units," says Bret Jordan, who follows RV companies for Avondale Partners.
Published: Mon, Dec 6, 2010
