RV Sales Decline

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KandT

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According to this article:

https://www.rvia.org/reports-trends

It would appear that 2019 year over year sales are down about 25% from 2018.  2017 as you may remember was a record year with 2018 declining about 5%.

Any ideas on how that will impact the used market?  My first thought was maybe people are buying used and then I thought better.  I think the economy has been strong for a while and the people that wanted an RV bought one???  Maybe the increases in camp ground fees lead many to realize how expensive this vacation really is.  I mean until you buy and maintain the coach, fill it with fuel and THEN pay anywhere from $40 at a local Mom and Pop to Fort Wilderness $130+ a night, it gets a little salty!!  Oh and that's before you towed a dingy.

Funny now that I am looking again I notice there are very few 2009's for sale which I assume is because the economy was so badd in 2009 that people just didn't buy many new RV's.
 
One must be careful because regional sales on one side of the country could have a overall effect ie major layoffs in the east but booming in the west etc.
 
Isaac-1 said:
It may also be market saturation
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That's my thought as well. As I've driven past mega dealer after mega dealer I've often thought at some point they're going to run low on buyers.
 
Also, price increases continue while the basic unit is still pretty much the same but more "Bling" that most folks can do without.>>>Dan
 
SpencerPJ said:
My thought as well, AND saturation of available State Park campspots for weekend campers.
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That would be my thought.  In some areas it is becoming impossible to just take a break and go camping, now it needs to be an appointment made months in advance.... then it rains.
 
KandT said:
According to this article:
Maybe the increases in camp ground fees lead many to realize how expensive this vacation really is.  I mean until you buy and maintain the coach, fill it with fuel and THEN pay anywhere from $40 at a local Mom and Pop to Fort Wilderness $130+ a night, it gets a little salty!!  Oh and that's before you towed a dingy.
Click to expand...
This forum is a motorhome-heavy one, and I think many people forget that most units sold are towables. Towables are in general much, much less expensive to buy and maintain than motorhomes, and they are very popular with younger RVers. And younger RVers are the majority of owners. I would guess most people use their RV five or six weekends a year with one longer vacation. And campground fees are still about 1/3 what an decent hotel room would be in the same area. I think people had a pent up demand, and the last four years of a good economy let them satisfy that demand. Now folks are getting worried about the economy again, and they are pulling back on discretionary luxury items. Big boats are having the same kind of downturn.
 
Saturation plus ever-higher prices on motorized models (motorhome sales were down 25%!).    There is an abundance of late model used rigs available, their lower prices making them highly competitive with new models.
The only segment of RVs that were up in April, 2019, were park models. Both motorhomes and towables declined, but motorhomes moreso.
 
SeilerBird said:
https://www.rvia.org/news-insights/rv-shipments-march-2018
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This compares March 2017 to 2018 which full year was down 5%.  The data I was looking at compared 2019 to 2018. 

I have to say a 25% decline is more than an anomaly in the data. 

I too was getting annoyed that we frequently would call from the road and the sites would be all booked up.  RV's take work and preparation.  Maybe a lot of people bought them as the economy started to boom and got tired of the upkeep.  Easier to leave it to the airlines and hotels.

It convinces me that there will be some deal in the used market to be had this fall.  Hopefully.
 
KandT said:
This compares March 2017 to 2018 which full year was down 5%.  The data I was looking at compared 2019 to 2018. 

I have to say a 25% decline is more than an anomaly in the data. 
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How did you come up with that conclusion?  It clearly shows an 11% increase not a 5% decrease.
 

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SeilerBird said:
How did you come up with that conclusion?  It clearly shows an 11% increase not a 5% decrease.
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I read the data for the full year.  Spring of 2018 started off strong and then in the fall of 2018 sales began their decline.  That gave the industry a year over year growth of -4.1%.  Sorry, I thought it was 5%.

https://www.rvia.org/news-insights/rv-shipments-december-2018

Around August sales started to fall off the same time prior year.

 
lynnmor said:
That would be my thought.  In some areas it is becoming impossible to just take a break and go camping, now it needs to be an appointment made months in advance.... then it rains.
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We must live in the same state.  Indiana?
 
It's possible everyone was/is waiting to see if the economy is going to be impeached.  ;D

Is there anyone that really trusts things enough to go out and sign a loan for a new $200k toy ?  ???
 
Utclmjmpr said:
There are many doing just that every day,,part of why the economy is humming along as it is.>>>Dan
Click to expand...

I'll stick with  "Trust...but Verify" .
 
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