RV Industry Association’s October 2023 shipment numbers are in. Total RV shipments for October were 28,371 units, a decrease of 13.1% when compared to the 32,652 units shipped in October 2022. Year to date, RV shipments are down (-40.6%) with 266,492 units.

This should tell you something about where we are headed, not just for the year but also into 2024. If you can remember back to the July report, I had said it would take a miracle for the RVIA to have their projection of 400,000+ units shipped in 2023. Last month I said that at this point, they would be lucky to get to 300,000 units. However, looking at these numbers and knowing that November and December aren’t big shipment months, I think they will make 300,000 but not by much.

Keeping in mind that the RV industry is reflective of the economy, you can see a real slowdown taking effect. High fuel costs along with high inflation and high interest rates are having an impact. The new RVIA forecast projects 2024 RV shipments to range between 363,700 and 375,700 units. This total would represent a 22 -24 percent increase over the new expected 2023 year-end range of 287,200 – 307,000 units. If that happens, I would be amazed. People are not going to spend money on an expensive depreciable asset when they have huge increases in just putting food on the table. That’s just my opinion.

There are many used, like new, RVs on the market and that will impact new sales. The prices on these units are dropping as demand goes down.

Lets talk about where each towable shipment number sits when October of 2022 is compared to October 2023:

Travel Trailers down 6.1%

Fifth Wheels down 15.5%

Pop-Up Campers down 43.6%

Truck Campers down 31.1%

The number looks bleaker when we compare Year To Date numbers compared to 2022:

Travel Trailers down 43.4%

Fifth Wheels down 41.4%

Pop-Up Campers down 40.3%

Truck Campers down 33.3%

So those are the numbers, let’s see where November and December takes the industry.