You may remember from my earlier blog about June shipments, that I thought the RV industry would make up for the Covid19 shut down. I think there is very little doubt about that happening. But there is a lot more to talk about than Julys numbers. So today we will talk about the July RV shipments and the Travel Trailer Shortage.

While we were on our August trip in Wisconsin, I kept looking for the RVIA to publish the July numbers. When they finally arrived, I was not surprised.

July’s shipments were the highest in four decades for that month. Not only that, shipments were up an amazing 53% over July of 2019 (Pre-Covid19). Pretty amazing when you consider Junes 2020 numbers were up 10% over June of 2019. Now the total RV shipments are only down 10% overall compared to 2019. Last month they were down 16.8% compared to 2019. That’s a jump of almost 7%. A couple more months of this kind of production and they will beat 2019’s numbers. That is amazing given the shutdown driven by Covid.

Fueling the RV numbers are all the new folks coming into the RV lifestyle. Dealers are reporting that 50 to 80 percent of the current buyers are new to the RV lifestyle. Ordinarily they would only make up 25 to 35% of the purchasing market.

In addition, there is the realization that camping is the safest way to travel right now. With a push for folks to work from home, don’t underestimate the number of folks that have taken to the road; they can work just as easily from their travel trailers.

As a result of all of this, there is a huge RV shortage. People are not trading right now, and people have huge waits for new orders. As a matter of fact, I received an email from a nearby dealer that wanted to buy my RV as they have nothing to sell. Obviously we are not thinking of selling our unit at all. So, if you are thinking of selling your unit, it is a sellers market.

The shortage is obvious; Tammy and I have noticed that two major RV dealers near us have almost empty lots. I’m actually not sure how they stay in business with so few units to deal with. My guess is that the units that are coming in are going out almost immediately.

So now that we have talked about the July shipments, lets dig a little deeper into the details. I will only be discussing towables in detail.

Travel Trailers led the shipment numbers with 30,268 units being shipped. Fifth Wheels were second with 8100 being shipped. Folding campers made up 531 units while truck campers made up 261 units. The result is a grand total of 39,160 towable units that were shipped in July. Ordinarily I would say “remember shipments don’t mean sales” but with the market today…who knows!

The balance of the RV Market (class A, B, and C motorhomes) only made up 3,875 units; but that was still up 27% from 2019’s number. So overall a really stellar month from a manufacturing standpoint.

What does the RVIA think about the upcoming months? RV Industry Association President Craig Kirby said this: “RVs have been the ideal way to travel this summer, providing the freedom and fun of RVing while also allowing people to control their environment. As we look towards fall, families and professionals who can work and learn from the road will continue to drive interest in RVing, Our manufacturers are working very closely with their dealer partners and component suppliers to meet the increased demand for RVs.”

I predict the August numbers will blow your socks off. As soon as the numbers are out, I will come back and let you know where the industry is at for the year.

If you want to read the report from the RVIA click here.