RV industry death spiral...
I'm greatly looking forward to this series of articles over the next couple of weeks: http://rvdailyreport.com/opinion/opinion-the-rv-industry-death-spiral-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-370313 ...
Forum Discussion
SoundGuy wrote:dewey02 wrote:
Edit: I see Gemsworld beat me to the answer. We agree that your basic assumption is incorrect.
You might want to read gemsworld's post again. ;) Seems you're confusing "quality" with technological advances ... of course product quality has improved as the industry is much more technologically advanced than it was in 1971. As gemsworld said, you're not paying for improvement in quality per se but for these dramatic advancements in technology, the net result of which is a natural improvement in quality ... and the effects of inflation. Tough concept to understand, eh? :S
I do not want to start a political debate here, but most of the rest of that price difference between a 1971 pickup and today's is due to government regulations - right, wrong or indifferent. The rest is inflation and, admit it, we're getting a WHOLE LOT better truck!
The Walmart reference is really not applicable. When we buy groceries at Walmart we're buying the same products we would buy at another grocery store for less money. More like competition between dealers for the same RV.
I think if RV manufacturers restructured the pay plans in their factories that quality improvements could be accomplished. If I were in charge I would pay a decent hourly wage with bonuses for exceeding production goals, but only if warranty claims also were below goal.
