The first quarter has been a rough one for both dealers and manufacturers. We have seen a number of both types of businesses close their doors either temporarily or permanently. Most likely, we will see more of this as the year continues. It has never been more apparent how closely interrelated and dependant we all are on each others’ success.

In the last few weeks, I have spoken with a number of dealers who were impacted directly by RV manufacturer closings. They report that these manufacturers owed them thousands of dollars that they will most likely never see because the manufacturer has either already declared bankruptcy or is in the process of doing so.

One dealer reported his manufacturer owed the dealership more than $100,000 in warranty repayments, spiffs and other financial obligations when it closed its doors. When you factor in the unsold new units from the manufacturer still on the dealer’s lot that will have no support once sold to the consumer, the phrase “hanging in the wind” comes to mind.

Although extreme, I doubt this dealer’s credit exposure to the manufacturer is unique. As always, we must choose carefully who we partner with in business, especially when this relationship will involve matters of credit, finance and insurance.

While RV Trade Digest had planned to do a special May F&I issue on products and services dealers offer to consumers, in light of present market conditions, we decided to expand the issue to include other interrelated feature stories about finance and banking.

Between May’s pages you will find articles on subjects including digital processing of checks on computer desktops, the prime lending rate and its relationship to consumer lending rates, rankings of the top five consumer lending institutions for RV consumers, a host of F&I products and services for dealers to consider offering and a variety of other must-read stories to kick off the RV industry’s busiest time of year – summer.

Now more than ever, RV Trade Digest is dedicated to keeping the industry informed of nationwide news, new products to consider and solid business solutions that work. With 28 years covering the RV industry, this is not the first industry downturn the magazine has weathered with RV dealers and manufacturers. We now have tools to keep you informed like never before and I challenge readers to go to our website and sign up for our newsletter. By doing so, you will begin to receive three e-mails per week containing important news headlines that may impact your business directly. If a headline interests you, click on the headline for more information. If not, we will send you more news in a couple days. It’s that simple.

Thanks again for reading RV Trade Digest.