RV Shipments and National Truck Sales
March is the month when a good portion of RVs come rolling onto dealers’ lots. In fact, March is the biggest month of the year for RV shipments. Dealerships are stuffed to the gills with brand new inventory and advertising efforts kick into high gear to move it off lots.
This March was a little different because the units trickled in to dealers instead of having a mass March product infusion. The recent data from RVIA shows that March new unit RV shipments in every category were down. Motorhomes topped the list with a 35 percent decline from last year and towables were down by almost 10 percent. Check out the numbers here.
Some claim that towable RV sales are directly linked to truck and SUV sales. I think they are related but so many factors play in to it. It is difficult to compare RV new unit shipments to truck new unit shipments because of distribution differences within the two industries but we can look at new unit sales for tow vehicles.
New truck and SUV sales universally dropped by double digits in March. General Motors’ March truck and SUV sales were down 22 percent. Ford reports March truck and SUV sales dropped 16 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. says March was down 14 percent from same month sales in 2007. Nissan was down 20 percent and Honda was 12 percent.
According to the American Bankers Association, consumer’s auto loan payments made to dealerships (indirect auto loans) are being made late at the highest rate on record—3.13 percent. Late auto loan payments to banks (direct auto loans) are at a 2-1/2-year delinquency high of 1.9 percent. In essence more people are having a tougher time making their truck payments. On the bright side, this means that 97 percent of consumers are doing just fine paying their truck loans. Hopefully, they will have extra cash to add a new RV as well.
The drop in new unit RV shipments could mean a variety of different things. It could mean dealers already have plenty of RVs for the busy summer season and their days inventory has increased, so they have no need for new units. It could mean that dealers are anticipating selling fewer units this year and see no reason to incur interest charges on units that they believe will just sit for a lengthy period of time. It could also mean that manufacturers are delivering units a little later in the year and we will see a surge of shipments in April or May.
Interpreting the data can be done any number of ways. It would be interesting to see how dealers from different parts of the country perceive the data. It would also be interesting to read dealers’ perceptions on how tow vehicle sales will impact this year’s RV sales. Do decreased truck and SUV sales foreshadow tough times for the travel trailers and fifth wheels?
May 5th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
It seems strange that no one has made a comment about the price of fuel causing the slow down in customers purchasing Pick up trucks and towables, Our so-called goverment has had an offer from Canada, to sell the United States oil companys barrels of oil for $50.00 a barrel. and they turned it down. Canada has hit an oil field, stating that there is enough oil in that field to last over 4000 years. this oil field is in sand, they are removing the oil from the sand using steam. at the present time they are producing 400,000 barrels of oil daily. this field is in Alberta. and they have just hit a bigger field in Saskatchwan Canada. who says that the oil companies aren’t running this country
April 30th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
This season is what we as dealers make of it…..if we choose to sit back and complain about the economy and lot traffic, without trying to figure new ways to market ourselves, business will be in the toilet. We are trying new venues for selling, and our sales are up 31% over last year. Bring trailers to a Home and Garden Show? I would never have waisted my time in the years past…..but if that is what I have to do this year to survive- so be it. Our lot traffic has been dead, as a result of the 146″ of snow that we recieved this winter. Winter shows saved our butts. Local campgrounds start to open this weekend…let’s hope that gets the customers out shopping.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Dana,
While it may be reasonable to suggest a strong relationship between towable” sales and the sales of light trucks, I believe that may be to much of a stretch.
A much stronger relationship can easily be made between the availability of discretionary funds and the need to put those discretionary funds into the family pocket book and use them to purchase fuel, food, and pay the mortgage.
On the other hand, it is also a true statement that nothing sells like something new. It has been several years since the RV Industry made a significant move toward significantly new technology within the RV structure. Maybe the down-turn in RV sales, which may last for several years, could be the spur that perks up the RV Industry Engineering Departments to bring out some much needed innovations.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I see more motorhomes and travel trailers at homes and private lots with for sale signs this spring than past years.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Two points. There are many newer RVs for sale by private parties right now. That hurts manufacturing and dealer sales. My second point is that it does not take a new truck to haul a new camper or tow a trailer or fifth wheel. There are plenty of newer trucks for sale as people move to more economical transportation.
It may not get better until there are reasons for consumer sentiment to escalate.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Dana,
towables may be down because the inventory is still up from the lack of last year due to siphoning off sales by the FEMA trailer sales.