Poor economy is the nail in RV industry's tire

Expensive, “discretionary” items like RVs are often the most vulnerable to the downturn because they are easy to put off.

Towable RVs, affixed onto pickups or hitched to the back of another vehicle, run between $4,000 and $100,000, according to the RVIA.

Standalone motor homes can start at around $41,000 for van-like “Type B” RVs, according to the industry trade group, while spacious, bus-like “Type A” vehicles run as much as $400,000 for top-of-the-line models.

Meanwhile, the summer’s run-up in fuel prices have also dissuaded customers from plunking down money on the fuel-swilling vehicles. Type A RVs typically get between 8 and 12 miles per gallon, according to RVIA spokesman Kevin Broom. Type B and Type C vehicles are more fuel efficient, with some models getting as much as 20 mpg, Broom said.

Although gas prices have fallen more than 56 percent from their summer highs, RV sales have not picked up, Thompson notes.

“The No. 1 thing we need right now is consumer confidence and the restoration of credit,” she said.

At the trade show, RV manufacturers Winnebago Industries Inc. and Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. unveiled diesel-electric hybrid concepts expected to improve fuel efficiency by more than 40 percent.

“We know that the RV of the future must incorporate advanced technologies to remain relevant and viable in a changing world,” said Paul Eskritt, president of Fleetwood’s RV group.

Dutchmen Manufacturing Inc., a unit of Thor Industries Inc., showed off its EcoLogic, an 18-foot towable trailer whose walls, floor and roof are made of thermal plastic rather than wood, making it lighter.

But the optimism around new model rollouts comes amid a dour climate for the industry.

In the past 12 months, 45 of about 2,850 RV dealerships around the country have closed, according to the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association.

RV makers, meanwhile, have reported dismal financial results and are closing factories. Last week, Fleetwood, based in Riverside, Calif., posted a $57 million quarterly loss and said it would close eight plants and lay off 760 workers.

Coburg, Ore.-based Monaco Coach Inc. said it will slash white-collar salaries between 20 percent and 40 percent. The company closed two facilities in Indiana in September and has slashed its motor home production in half.

Eskritt predicted the industry will weather the downturn because the “RV lifestyle is not going away.”

“People will always enjoy the great outdoors,” he said. “Owning a motor home, travel trailer or fifth wheel has become a part of the American dream.”

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