Thor Industries now has $14 billion in backlogged orders

My buddy just took delivery of a beautiful Lance 1685 that he ordered last January. The dealer told him if he ordered one today it would be June of 2022 before he would have any chance of delivery.

A very nice trailer by the way, he ordered it with 24 of the 27 available options and it is gorgeous. Lance you can trust for a quality rig, Thor… not so much.

:R

The part that confuses me is the huge inventories these RV dealers seem to have, especially towables. We just returned from a couple road trips, passing many RV dealers on the Interstate, with lots that literally look full. You can't convince me those are all sold units. If you go onto RVTrader, and do a nationwide search for Thor (without a specific type/model), there are nearly 4000 new units for sale. Even throwing out the 'pending sale' listings, the number is still quite high. PLUS, this is only searching the Thor brand -- not even taking into account Jayco, Airstream, etc. Are these dealer inventory units nobody wants, or is the extreme 'shortage' maybe not as bad as it's being portrayed? Just wondering.

mdcamping wrote:
Will be interesting to see in a year or so if the covid newbies go back to the cruise lines, hotel resorts and airlines. I'm looking for an Rv upgrade in the near future, hope to have some decent new or used inventory

Mike

I'm already starting to see quite a few more near-new units for sale on the forums I frequent. The usual states are things like, "We're not using it nearly as much as we thought we would" or, "We realized this is more than we needed." Typical newbie discoveries when jumping in without learning much about RV life.

Rob

Not disagreeing with any of the posts, we might still chance buying another Jayco (Thor) as we have had relatively good luck with the brand.

Newmar was bought out by Winnebago, Thor owns Tiffin & Airstream

Mike

Expand production? I see a looming shortage of "Amish Craftsmen". :)

gbopp wrote:

ZINGERLITE wrote:
Pre covid quality standards were hot garbage. What happens when you speed up production?

I didn't think Thor had a stellar reputation before the pandemic. It will be interesting to see the quality of the backlog.

Agreed. Of all the manufacturers, they're the one I'd trust least in the first place (but they sell tons of units because they're typically the cheapest). Ramping up production is bound to have an impact on quality.

ZINGERLITE wrote:
Pre covid quality standards were hot garbage. What happens when you speed up production?

I didn't think Thor had a stellar reputation before the pandemic. It will be interesting to see the quality of the backlog.

Pre covid quality standards were hot garbage. What happens when you speed up production?

Will be interesting to see in a year or so if the covid newbies go back to the cruise lines, hotel resorts and airlines. I'm looking for an Rv upgrade in the near future, hope to have some decent new or used inventory

Mike