RV manufacturers and dealers falling like leaves in autumn.

Apparently this sign captures the current mood of the RV buying public.Joining a growing list of failing RV manufacturers, Weekend Warrior Trailers Inc., operating out of Peris, California closed it’s doors for good this week. Pilgrim International Inc. out of the quiet little town of Middlebury, Indiana is closing plants and laying off workers. Monaco is doing the same laying off 1,430 workers. Other RV manufacturers have gone out of business this year or filed bankruptcy including Travel Supreme, King of the Road, National RV Holdings Inc., Western RV Inc. (makers of Alpenlite 5th wheels) and Alfa Leisure Inc. Every major RV manufacturer is laying off and cutting back or making plans to do so in the immediate future.The flagship RV manufacturer Winnebago reported a 73% decline in profits and closed one of it’s plants in Charles City, Iowa. Even Affinity Group Holding Inc. owners of Camping World are reporting losses.Dealers too are feeling the pinch. Lazydays in Tampa, Florida bills itself as the largest RV dealer in the Nation laid off 15% of it’s workers in July. Longtime California based Dan Gamel is shutting down six dealerships.

Why is the RV industry in a nosedive? Most people think it’s the inflated gas prices, but the primary reason is because the U.S. is in a recession. Our current recession was caused by loose lending practices in the home loan industry and now that foreclosures are at an all time high, banks are running out of cash to cover the bad loans and are tightening their lending practices. When people can’t borrow money to purchase RVs (a major discretionary expenditure) then sales plummet and RV manufactures go out of business.

The fact unemployment is rising and consumer confidence is tanking doesn’t help. I think the RV industry will not even begin to recover until the economy as a whole starts to recover. My personal study of the economy doesn't give me hope it will be any time soon. Some economists are looking as far as 2012 for an economic turnaround in which case there won’t be many manufacturers left standing. Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

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

RV Industry In Financial Crisis

The lead story in today’s RVtravel.com newsletter is about the demise of National RV. National RV makes the motorhome brands Surfside, Pacifica, Tropi-Cal, Dolphin, Sea Breeze and Tradewinds. Friday they threw in the towel and called it quits laying off 600 workers. This is just the tip of the iceberg because all RV manufacturers with publicly traded stock showed serious declines for 2007. Boat manufacturing is suffering with huge sales losses, Harley Davidson motorcycles just laid off hundreds of workers last week. Behemoth boat maker Brunswick makers of Bayliner boats and Mercury marine engines is cutting jobs based on a year and a half of profit loses. Chairman and CEO Dustan McCoy told Bloomberg reporters that this year is ``shaping up'' to be the weakest for the U.S. marine industry since 1965. This is significant because the recreational vehicle industry which in the broad spectrum includes boats, RVs, motorcycles, and camping equipment manufacturers is suffering. Historically, when boat manufacturing declines it is a signal that the overall economy is headed for the skids. The Consumer Confidence Index has been in a nose dive since summer (usually a good sales time for RVs and boats) and shows no sign of changing. The U.S. consumer has a negative savings rate and his credit cards are tapped out. Oil is near $100 dollars a barrel (read higher prices at the pump) and real inflation is on the rise (regardless of what unreliable government statistics say). All this spells DANGER for the RV industry. Expect to see more RV manufactures lay off employees, shut down plants and go out of business this next year. The question is who will be the next to go?On the bright side, this means you should be able to negotiate a good deal on an RV during the coming year. With my fingers on the pulse of the RV industry - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

Get Your RV Makeover in Junction City, Oregon

Driving down Oregon’s Highway 99 you eventually come to Junction City. This little burg is like hundreds of other Oregon towns except that it has just about everything you need for your RV needs. Home to the Country Coach Factory and Guaranty auto and RV sales, Junction City has attracted vendors who cater to the RV industry. Places like Countryside interiors where Terri Penrod (in the center of the photo) will help you find just the right furniture, carpet, tile or fabrics for your RV. Brian Hanavan from Elite Coach Care can have his team spruce up your coach so it looks like new. They do detail work to include wash, wax, spot removing and carpet cleaning. You can have just one thing done, or you can go for the whole ball of wax. Innovative Audio is co-located with Elite Coach Care and can install audio, TV, Tracvision, navigation systems and much more. Tiffany (left) and Jennifer (right) will greet you at Davis Cabinets where you can have custom built cabinets installed, or a TV retrofit, tables, desks, dog-house covers, racks and anything you can imagine made out of wood. There are many more service centers located in and around Junction City like Carrier and Sons, Pacific Service and Repair, A-1 Auto Glass, Cummins Northwest and many more. Your chances of getting your RV fixed or updated in a timely and satisfactory manner are very good in Junction City, Oregon. Jim Twamley

Bold Move Helps RVer Get Action From RV Manufacturer

Dennis Abbott and his wife have been full time RVers for 13 years this July. Typical of many owners of new motor coaches, Dennis was having more difficulty than a half million dollar coach ought to have. He told me so many problems he’s had with this coach that it would take five articles to cover them all.

Suffice it to say, Dennis couldn’t get the multitude of manufacturer defects fixed in a timely manner and his out of pocket expenses for repairs under a supposed warranty were keeping him awake at night. This Texan made a bold move, took out his paint brush and went the first amendment route. I like his style and being parked at the FMCA campground finally garnered the attention of his manufacturer. He told me that corporate promised to get it all repaired at no cost to him, but he isn’t holding his breath. We’ll see how it all comes out.

So here is the burning question, why should a customer who pays a king’s ransom for a new motor coach have to resort to this anyway? Why can’t RV manufacturers make a consistently good quality product right off the assembly line? Leave a comment and tell me what you think about this issue. Jim

Do RV Manufacturers Give a Rip?

Everyone I talk to seems to have the same opinion about RV manufactures (including dealership RV techs). They feel that they really don’t care about building quality into their products, that they are more interested in the “schedule” and meeting “quotas” of production rather than focusing on quality like Honda or Toyota.

The perception of most full-time RVers is that the manufactures would rather just “turn out the coaches and let the dealerships fix all the problems.” Why do these folks have this perception? Is it true? How about the dealerships – do they see it the same way? What is your opinion on this? Here is your chance to tell the world what you think about RV manufacturers good or bad. Just click on the “comments” section below and type in your opinion. Thanks for your thoughts! Jim