Optimism in the RV Industry

[jkwilson]

https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/james-briggs/2020/04/05/why-elkhart-indiana-might-...

Not sure I buy the logic completely. People who are working rarely have much time for the slower travel pace of an RV for longer trips. People who are retired who don’t already have an RV likely aren’t going to make the leap.

If we are fortunate, we’ll see how it turns out.

[restlessways]

CFerguson wrote:
Had this idiocy not arrived, I would have bought a new RV by now- we were in the final stage of narrowing it down and deciding on a dealer. I'll still buy it when this is over, but that isn't going to help anyone in the short term.

Same here. I've given up on my truck camper purchase for the time being. Why would I buy something when a) the discounts are almost non-existent, and b) I can't even use it right now?

[CFerguson]

Had this idiocy not arrived, I would have bought a new RV by now- we were in the final stage of narrowing it down and deciding on a dealer. I'll still buy it when this is over, but that isn't going to help anyone in the short term.

[philh]

2021 will see a rash of bankruptcies

[1320Fastback]

I'm optimistic they will build something truly worth the money.

[ppine]

The RV industry is going to be in trouble for a long time except for the demand for old cheap trailers for people one step from being homeless.

[IDman]

When the RV manufacturers start building again, they will slap them together faster and cheaper than ever in order to make up for lost time and cash-flow.

[midnightsadie]

great time to start building quality rv,s but this ain,t never going away, heard on the 6am news theres a lion that got it from the care taker. whats next beef cows,pigs. my kids dogs. its here to stay.

[bob213]

It would be nice if the RV Execs would use this time to re-think their production methods and put Quality at the top of the list. They could come out of this down period with a new fresh look. Sure they are going to cost more, but when you buy a new unit and it's in the shop for the first 5-6 months, how much has that cost you?

[theoldwizard1]

They might has well write off the rest of 2020.

[RobWNY]

I will buy a new RV provided the industry and dealers that aren't selling anything right now understand that they're going to have to offer me an even greater discount than the 25%-30% we all expect now. If they think they can survive this recession, near depression or whatever this ends up being and still overcharge for products that have little quality control, they're nuts! Or.....maybe I'm nuts to hope for greater discounts to move new units.

[BB_TX]

Naturally the RV execs are going to try to sound optimistic so as not to further affect the business as reflected in the statement "......, but we do believe the RV and boating industries will return to strength at the appropriate time in the future.” But "appropriate time in the future" could be anywhere from next month (unlikely) to 3 years or more from now (more likely).

I think there will be far too many people affected financially to be willing to spend large amounts of money until the memory starts to fade.