Wall Street Journal today: Rocky Road Ahead for RV Makers

[T18skyguy]

Now might be a good time to look for that deal. Some key takeaways:
What drove the industry's good fortune was consumer confidence, cheap financing, affordable fuel, and a new found "hip factor". That's gone now. Rising interest rates, and steel and aluminum tariff's have kicked in. RV shipments rose till May, but by September, down 30% year over year. Thor has lost two thirds it value, and Winnebago lost 57%. Camping World lost 3/4 it's value. Thor showed a 21.3% drop in revenue and an 83.2 drop in pre-tax profit. The previous record sales spike consisted more of cheap towables, more than motorhomes. Another worry is the"glamping", a trend which brought many younger people in, could fade with changing sensibilities or financial priorities.

[mike_brez]

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
Not totally related but I was looking for a particular brand of motorhome not knowing the manufacturer. After a bit of looking, I ended up on the "Forest River" Web site. All I can say is...WOW on the number of RV's in general made by this one company which I'm sure has gobbled up the smaller brands as they have become larger.


Just found it interesting but sad at the same time.

Warren Buffet has some cash

[Acampingwewillg]

Not totally related but I was looking for a particular brand of motorhome not knowing the manufacturer. After a bit of looking, I ended up on the "Forest River" Web site. All I can say is...WOW on the number of RV's in general made by this one company which I'm sure has gobbled up the smaller brands as they have become larger.


Just found it interesting but sad at the same time.

[Chainwright]

T18skyguy wrote:
Now might be a good time to look for that deal. Some key takeaways:
What drove the industry's good fortune was consumer confidence, cheap financing, affordable fuel, and a new found "hip factor". That's gone now. Rising interest rates, and steel and aluminum tariff's have kicked in. RV shipments rose till May, but by September, down 30% year over year. Thor has lost two thirds it value, and Winnebago lost 57%. Camping World lost 3/4 it's value. Thor showed a 21.3% drop in revenue and an 83.2 drop in pre-tax profit. The previous record sales spike consisted more of cheap towables, more than motorhomes. Another worry is the"glamping", a trend which brought many younger people in, could fade with changing sensibilities or financial priorities.

My take on this is it's Bad news across the board for RVs. But I think for the NEW sales market it's worse than for the USED market. Since New RV's are going up used RV prices remain stable or can go up, because now more people will look at Used before they look at New. JMHO

[DutchmenSport]

Delete

[Community Alumni]

Bipeflier wrote:
Be mindful of the brand you buy today, it may be an orphan tomorrow, with no support.

This is just a repeat of what happened to the RV/camper industry back in the '70s I believe.

You don't have to go that far back in time. A lot of RV manufacturers went out of business around 2007-2008.

It's worth noting Winnebago has weathered previous economic downturns. I'm not so sure others that have overextended themselves during this economic boom will be able to survive a brutal downturn like we had 12 years ago.

[pianotuna]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rv-stocks-may-stay-in-the-wilderness-11546351380?mod=searchresults&pag...

[Community Alumni]

Here's the link to the article:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rv-stocks-may-stay-in-the-wilderness-11546351380?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

[Bipeflier]

Be mindful of the brand you buy today, it may be an orphan tomorrow, with no support.

This is just a repeat of what happened to the RV/camper industry back in the '70s I believe.

[bob213]

Maybe if the industry slows down the mfg"s will have the time to build a quality product instead of seeing how fast they can push them out the door. I doubt that will happen but it would be nice to think they could change their mind set. I would be willing to pay a little more for a unit that I didn't have to finish for them.

[midnightsadie]

X2 about time they quality of rv,s caught up with them.

[pianotuna]

Add that to the lousy workmanship and low quality materials.