Low volume Class C manufacturers

wearenh wrote:

DrewE wrote:
...

I also wonder how long that one lone Gulfstream motorhome was sitting on some dealer's lot. They've been making only trailers for several years now, to my best knowledge.

it may have been the first sale of the new 2016 BTCruiser, as Gulfstream has started making them again.

That's also a good possibility. I didn't realize they re-introduced them. (My best knowledge falls very, very far short of omniscience!)

I feel the BT Cruiser line-up is going to take a hit for not offering a real bed until 28.5 feet long. The $62,000 price for the 24.5 footer will otherwise be attractive to many.

Snowman, when we had our 5230 I rigged up an auxiliary fresh watertank under the chassis just in front of the rear bumper. I bought a tank and simply suspended it from the chassis rails, ran a hose connection out to the side and a drain hose at the bottom. I would simply fill it up and drain it out for water when boondocking. Worked great! There was lots of room down there as I recall. Where there is a will there is a way, or some such none sense.

Paul

Yeah, that 5230 is what I've wanted since we had our Trail Lite. The tanks are small though, as you point out. Hmmmm.

I was at the Dallas RV show on Thursday and saw a new 5230 BT Cruiser that wearenh referenced in his post with the link. Well priced and EXACTLY like the 2003 model we bought new right after they started original production. Exactly like in the regard to floor plan. It was on a Ford 350 and ours was a 450 but you could get either back then. Sitting in that coach brought back some great memories of all the fun we had with our 5230. It also made me thankful I am still around 13 years later to enjoy RVs!!

It is great to go to an RV show and see all the units and conclude none of them serve your purpose as well as what you own! The difference in quality of construction and detail of our Phoenix Cruiser is really evident after looking over more mass produced offerings in the same size range. That being said, that little BT Cruiser should sell well because it has lots of storage and a great kitchen all in a small coach. I am attracted particularly to the large side windows which give it a very open feeling. The inside storage is superior to my Phoenix but it is a very different layout because of the jack sofas and no regular bed. The tanks on the BT are also significantly smaller than our PC.

The one on display was "Show Special" $61,995.

Paul

DrewE wrote:
...

I also wonder how long that one lone Gulfstream motorhome was sitting on some dealer's lot. They've been making only trailers for several years now, to my best knowledge.

it may have been the first sale of the new 2016 BTCruiser, as Gulfstream has started making them again

NEW Gulfstream Class B+ (C) BT Cruiser




.

Nexus is factory direct and they show up.

This report is not by dealer...This is by registrations. There is another report that is a "dealer level report" but it does not include all the numbers because 5-6 states do not report at the dealer level.

Actual production numbers are also not represented here. So they could be building more than 9...but these numbers only reflect what was "Sold" and registered.

Also, even if a mfg is factory direct. They would still need a dealer's license as far as I know. If for some reason there is something that would not catch every registration...I would think this is somewhat close.

DrewE wrote:
I wonder if some or all factory direct sales (or at least made-to-order vehicles) are not classed as retail sales

I know that Phoenix USA and many of the other small production companies sell only factory-direct, so I would think the numbers reflect actual production output. Not retail sales through 3rd party dealerships.

I wonder if some or all factory direct sales (or at least made-to-order vehicles) are not classed as retail sales? That would seem to make more sense than suggesting that e.g. Lazy Daze is doing okay with less than a sale a month.

I also wonder how long that one lone Gulfstream motorhome was sitting on some dealer's lot. They've been making only trailers for several years now, to my best knowledge.

Tried that again...should be even bigger now.