RV Industry Seeing Red
Today we're in our RV leaving Arkansas on highway 67. We enjoyed our stay touring Little Rock and Hot Springs. There's quite a bit to see and do in Arkansas and it's a worthy RV destination. I should have a tour video up on YouTube sometime next week. Though I'm able to post text Google is still not allowing me to post photos. Hopefully this glitch will be resolved sometime soon.
The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RIVA) has released the official report card for RV shipments from March 2007 to March 2008 and it doesn't look good. Pop-up trailer delivery was down by 41.2% followed closely by conventional class A's loosing 36.1%. Fifth wheel deliveries fared better declining only 12.9% and the smaller Mini-Class C's were only down by 10.5%.
Most Americans who buy fuel and groceries know the economy is in trouble. The RV industry is an indicator of economic health because when the economy is doing well (low unemployment and low inflation) the RV industry prospers. When you see RV manufacturers filing bankruptcy and laying off employees left and right it's time to stop and evaluate your pocketbook and passbook. Overall the RV industry delivered 18.9% fewer RVs to the marketplace than they did over the previous year. I might add that many of those delivered RVs are still sitting in the RV dealer lots waiting for someone to purchase them. They may be there a while.
Many analysists believe we are in a recession. Duh! Where do I get one of those analyst jobs??? - never mind, I would rather travel and write. Tomorrow I'll address why I believe fuel prices are headed to over $8.00 per gallon. In the meantime (while fuel is still cheap) I'm heading to Michigan for the summer - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing
The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RIVA) has released the official report card for RV shipments from March 2007 to March 2008 and it doesn't look good. Pop-up trailer delivery was down by 41.2% followed closely by conventional class A's loosing 36.1%. Fifth wheel deliveries fared better declining only 12.9% and the smaller Mini-Class C's were only down by 10.5%.
Most Americans who buy fuel and groceries know the economy is in trouble. The RV industry is an indicator of economic health because when the economy is doing well (low unemployment and low inflation) the RV industry prospers. When you see RV manufacturers filing bankruptcy and laying off employees left and right it's time to stop and evaluate your pocketbook and passbook. Overall the RV industry delivered 18.9% fewer RVs to the marketplace than they did over the previous year. I might add that many of those delivered RVs are still sitting in the RV dealer lots waiting for someone to purchase them. They may be there a while.
Many analysists believe we are in a recession. Duh! Where do I get one of those analyst jobs??? - never mind, I would rather travel and write. Tomorrow I'll address why I believe fuel prices are headed to over $8.00 per gallon. In the meantime (while fuel is still cheap) I'm heading to Michigan for the summer - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing
Labels: RV Manufacturers
posted by Jim Twamley at
5/22/2008 04:00:00 AM
4 Comments:
Gee Jim,
Now I get to wait until tomorrow to be depressed.
Oh well, we saved all winter and we will head east to volunteer at a NHS , Kingsly Plantation, in our rig and just not look at the gas receipts.
beth
PS: You are right Arkansas is a great place to visit.
By
Beth&Leo, at May 22, 2008 7:20:00 AM PDT
There are (at least) 3 ways to rescue the RV industry.
Green it. RV air quality scandals hurt business. Green building materials inside that reduce formaldehyde offgassing are already used in trendy homes cost competitively. Super sealed, super insulated floors, walls, ceilings, doors and windows are not expensive if done right, holds temperatures better and costs less to HVAC. $30 solar cookers eliminate propane cooking. Solar hot water is much cheaper than solar electricity or propane.
www.edcmag.com
www.solarcooking.org
www.homepower.com/basics/hotwater/
www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/insulation_airsealing/
Stylize it. Country prints, taxidermy, woodgrain and chintz are out. So is "contemporary" which looks dated after 5 years anyway. IKEA is in. H&M is in. These are brands that have created affordable and tasteful colors, lines, curves and shapes that don't lose style over time as quickly as other "contemporary" brands because they balance "safe style" with inventiveness and practicality. RV interiors that do this attract a new breed of customer the industry is ignoring.
www.ikea.com
www.hm.com
www.hgtv.com
Hybridize it. Dodge Sprinter plug-in hybrid can be recharged overnight for $1 a gallon (in equivalent electricity) and run 20 miles on electricity before the engine comes on for longer distances. GM's former Allison division created a strong new hybrid electric transmission for trucks that has electric motors inside instead of seperately. It's in GM hybrid buses and the Chevy Tahoe hybrid which gets 22 mpg instead of 16. Big gains like that would be noticeable in an RV too. RV makers need to license these units.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-Mode_Hybrid
www.worldcarfans.com/2060331.005/dodge-sprinter-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicle-phev
www.calcars.org
A third, but lower priority way to help "green" the industry is to solarize/wind power it creatively with tilt up units. Also, carbon fiber manufacturing is getting cheaper now and it's ligher and stronger than steel. Ford may be first to cut vehicle weight in half. Low volume RVs may be attractive publicity for startup carbon fiber manufacturers like RMI's Fiberforge.
www.homepower.com
www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid277.php
The RV industry needs to prove three things - that it can save consumers money on fuel for travel, that it's interiors are clean, safe to breathe and stylish and that RVing is not just for retirees and folks with a rustic aesthetic.
This new group of untapped customers are health conscious, style conscious, cost conscious, green conscious, technology conscious, on the go families who want to travel and connect with nature in a clean, modern way. They just don't know it yet.
By
ECadvocate, at June 7, 2008 4:39:00 AM PDT
The higher the price of fuel goes, the sooner alternatives, such as algae based biofuels, which don't compete with food, will become viable. Unlike vegetable oil, algae based diesel can be produced in huge quantities (maybe). It's suppose to be 3 to 4 years from commercialization, but a plant just opened in Hondo, Texas in April. I don't know how it will turn out, but the buzz is that biodiesel produced this way can be produced for the equivalent of $60 a barrel, and is almost carbon neutral. We'll see. I'm forced to be hopeful. When I retire in a few years, I want to enjoy an RV lifestyle.
Tom
By
Anonymous, at June 7, 2008 6:34:00 AM PDT
RVs are quickly becoming the animals that produced most of the oil.
By
Anonymous, at June 7, 2008 12:03:00 PM PDT
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