RV retail sales drop 31% April year over year.

Winnebago Cuts Back Production

Maybe someone has already posted this. I saw this story today that Winnebago is cutting production for the rest of the year because demand is decreasing. They said their current inventory of motorhomes is valued at $150,000 per unit, up from about $120,000 at the same time last year. But the CEO warned that the company's ability to raise prices has "peaked." Probably because gas is $5 a gallon and it's no longer raining money from Washington.

redhooker wrote:
Used market is still very brisk here in FL. Sky-high rent combined with unaffordable mortgage interest rates (a 200k motgage is up $400/month from January) is pushing a lot of people into full time lifestyles. Locally campgrounds have doubled monthly rent but still substantially cheaper than an apartment right now.

I bought my first house in 1982. My interest rate was just a bit over 13%, and it was THAT low because we were first-time buyers.

We've enjoyed historically low mortgage rates for almost ten years now. While they have gone up, I wouldn't generally describe them as "unaffordable" any more than they have been. In many markets, real estate sales are slowing, even here in the Bay Area. I think, for now, lower prices (in certain markets) will offset interest rates.

Demand for durable goods is still high, and demand for luxury items is still high including RVs. Many, if not all of the price increases we're seeing are tied to outside forces (most notably Russia v Ukraine) and the recovery from a worldwide pandemic that wrecked the supply chain.

Lots are full, manufacturers are talking about slowing production to more realistically meet demand, and the industry is taking a collective deep breath and looking closely at the last two years, trying to read the tea leaves for the coming two years.

I set a budget when I started looking, and for the last 18 months the TTs I want (well cared for used models, between 3-8 years old)have all been 32-35% more than my budget, and I'm finally starting to see them starting to fall within my range. By this Fall I should have a good selection and I hope to find what I want locally.

My local Lance dealer sent me a flyer for HUGE reductions over MSRP. lol Well, OK, I know it's hype but I haven't seen any dealers advertising discounts or sales before this.

It will soon be a buyers market.

ferndaleflyer wrote:
Shall I list the reasons? Lets start with SSI, food stamps, medical cards, free or subsidized housing, food banks, and there is more. If you know how to work the system the last thing you need is a full time job. Need some extra cash sell some of your free meds, mow a couple of yards. You think this is not going on you are unaware of the way the real world works. And then there is the way the numbers are juggled to feed the results they want you to see. Nothing negative.

^Totally accurate post.
I’ll add…
Subsidized utilities
Subsidized or free child care
Free student breakfast and lunches at school

Used market is still very brisk here in FL. Sky-high rent combined with unaffordable mortgage interest rates (a 200k motgage is up $400/month from January) is pushing a lot of people into full time lifestyles. Locally campgrounds have doubled monthly rent but still substantially cheaper than an apartment right now.

Shall I list the reasons? Lets start with SSI, food stamps, medical cards, free or subsidized housing, food banks, and there is more. If you know how to work the system the last thing you need is a full time job. Need some extra cash sell some of your free meds, mow a couple of yards. You think this is not going on you are unaware of the way the real world works. And then there is the way the numbers are juggled to feed the results they want you to see. Nothing negative.

ferndaleflyer wrote:
GoDucks you just don't understand how the system works---plenty of people getting paid to stay home.

Complete nonsense and has no bearing on this topic. We're at full employment and many hourly folks still work more than one job.

ferndaleflyer wrote:
GoDucks you just don't understand how the system works---plenty of people getting paid to stay home.

lol, right?

Got a whole set of family members who been doing it for years! Decades actually!

They're not rookies like alot of the Covid bums....

Although, things are starting to get stressful for my kinfolk...first, the gubmint yanked the rug out from under them when they stopped paying all the extra covid cheeze, that hurt...and now the kids are getting older and not going to be a source of additional income for their deadbeat parents anymore....lol

PS I'm serious. It's a hard life making ends meet without expending any effort to work!

GoDucks you just don't understand how the system works---plenty of people getting paid to stay home.

PButler96 wrote:
Are you inferring that is due to increased sales of RV's? ...

*implying

PButler96 wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
A friend of mine is an RV transporter, mostly Class A's. He told me he's up to his neck in work, and his boss is paying current drivers a recruiting bonus for bringing in new drivers that also get a signing bonus after 90 days.

Are you inferring that is due to increased sales of RV's? There is a labor shortage due to a host of reasons in the US with the main one being paying people to not work. Transporting RVs has never been a lucrative deal, the drivers are the low man on the totem pole and the RV Industry has not had enough transport drivers forever. The job sucks. 7-11 is paying bonuses for employees too, but it's not due to selling more Slurpees.

His employer normally has about 30 drivers on the roster, but currently has about 40 and is looking for another 10 or 15. His job is to move RV's from the manufacturers to dealers. Some are customer special orders while others are inventory replenishment. As inventories catch up to demand he expects the need to move them will start to taper off.