Travel Trailers are selling like hot cakes in 2017. In our neighborhood alone in 2017, there were four travel trailers purchased compared to two fifth wheels. Travel trailers continue to be the largest selling RV by a wide margin.
Low Fuel Prices are definitely not hurting the sales of RVs. In addition the economic outlook is positive right now, which is helping. Contrast both of those factors to the 2007, 2008, and 2009 years and you can see why sales were hurting. Economic gloom, coupled with a crippled economy and high gas prices tortured the industry. Many folks were just trying to figure out how to recover on their 401K’s; buying an RV was the furthest thing from their mind. The sales during this period of time were absolutely horrible. While 2007 would see a drop in sales of 7%, the next two years would see a decline of over 30% in sales. It’s hard to support any industry on that kind of free fall.
In early 2007 we had just purchased a beautiful Coachmen Travel Trailer, the 288FKS, the nicest and largest travel trailer we had ever owned. Shortly after that the bottom fell out of the RV market. Sadly we all know what happened next; large conglomerates started looking for companies to gobble up. Recreational Vehicle Companies that had been around for years, and had great quality and name recognition simply disappeared. Many times their manufacturing facilities were closed and the new company merely put the previous companies name on a version of their trailer. I really think competition brings out the best in an industry. Lets face the facts, there just is not a lot of competition left in this marketplace anymore. Whenever an industry lacks competition there is an impact to the consumer, both from a price and quality perspective…but I digress.
Almost all segments of the RV industry are growing in 2017, with the exception of folding pop-up campers. None of the segments are growing as fast as travel trailer sales which are up 20% over 2016’s number. Total RV shipments through October were 426,000 units. So there is no doubt that 2017 is going to be a record year for RV sales. How do I know this? The total shipments for 2016 were 430,000 and we have two months (and the year-end push) left to go.
I just saw an advertisement for the Fort Worth RV show which kicking off on January 4th. You can be sure they are going to sell a lot of travel trailers and that will certainly jump-start the 2018 year around here. The shows are a great place to get new folks into the industry and an even better way to get people to upgrade…and the prices are typically better than you can get on the lot.
I am going to go out on a ledge and predict that 2018 will be another banner year for the RV industry. Of course only time will tell if I am correct, however, there are a few new things taking place that bolster my view:
- Take for instance Grand Designs introduction of their new “Transcend” travel trailer. This is a “stick and tin” model designed to hit a market where half of all travel trailers sold are constructed that way. Currently Grand Design has nothing in the line up like this. This type of design lowers the price point and allows young families to enter the Travel Trailer Family; at a price they can afford. Now, Grand Designs new Transcend isn’t like the stick and tin of old, where families settled for a “bare bones” type trailer just to get into camping. There are many upgrades on this trailer while still delivering a really decent price point. It has leather furniture, and many of the other amenities you get on their other trailers. I have read responses on some of the forums, that current GD owners feel this move cheapens their brand. We couldn’t disagree more. This is an extremely wise move and it benefits not only Grand Design, but young families too. If this was 25 years ago, this is the exact trailer Tammy and I would be looking for. If you would like to see this travel trailer click here.
- Millennial’s are fueling the RV market place. While they make up only 31% of the population, they make up 38% of the overall RV market. The expectation is that this segment of the population will continue to grow.
There is really no denying that the RV industry has recovered and is once again growing. I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that from a quality perspective they all have a long way to go; but that is a topic for another day. Let’s see what happens in 2018, I think it’s going to be a really exciting year in the RV industry.
2017 – Travel Trailers Are Selling Like Hot Cakes
Travel Trailers are selling like hot cakes in 2017. In our neighborhood alone in 2017, there were four travel trailers purchased compared to two fifth wheels. Travel trailers continue to be the largest selling RV by a wide margin.
Low Fuel Prices are definitely not hurting the sales of RVs. In addition the economic outlook is positive right now, which is helping. Contrast both of those factors to the 2007, 2008, and 2009 years and you can see why sales were hurting. Economic gloom, coupled with a crippled economy and high gas prices tortured the industry. Many folks were just trying to figure out how to recover on their 401K’s; buying an RV was the furthest thing from their mind. The sales during this period of time were absolutely horrible. While 2007 would see a drop in sales of 7%, the next two years would see a decline of over 30% in sales. It’s hard to support any industry on that kind of free fall.
In early 2007 we had just purchased a beautiful Coachmen Travel Trailer, the 288FKS, the nicest and largest travel trailer we had ever owned. Shortly after that the bottom fell out of the RV market. Sadly we all know what happened next; large conglomerates started looking for companies to gobble up. Recreational Vehicle Companies that had been around for years, and had great quality and name recognition simply disappeared. Many times their manufacturing facilities were closed and the new company merely put the previous companies name on a version of their trailer. I really think competition brings out the best in an industry. Lets face the facts, there just is not a lot of competition left in this marketplace anymore. Whenever an industry lacks competition there is an impact to the consumer, both from a price and quality perspective…but I digress.
Almost all segments of the RV industry are growing in 2017, with the exception of folding pop-up campers. None of the segments are growing as fast as travel trailer sales which are up 20% over 2016’s number. Total RV shipments through October were 426,000 units. So there is no doubt that 2017 is going to be a record year for RV sales. How do I know this? The total shipments for 2016 were 430,000 and we have two months (and the year-end push) left to go.
I just saw an advertisement for the Fort Worth RV show which kicking off on January 4th. You can be sure they are going to sell a lot of travel trailers and that will certainly jump-start the 2018 year around here. The shows are a great place to get new folks into the industry and an even better way to get people to upgrade…and the prices are typically better than you can get on the lot.
I am going to go out on a ledge and predict that 2018 will be another banner year for the RV industry. Of course only time will tell if I am correct, however, there are a few new things taking place that bolster my view:
There is really no denying that the RV industry has recovered and is once again growing. I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that from a quality perspective they all have a long way to go; but that is a topic for another day. Let’s see what happens in 2018, I think it’s going to be a really exciting year in the RV industry.
john.martini.patterson@gmail.com
December 28, 2017
Blog, Industry Commentary
2017 rv sales numbers, manufacturing sales, rv sales, sales, Travel Trailer, travel trailer blog, Travel Trailer Blogs, travel trailer nation blog