RV Sales Dipped in 2019 But Remained Near Historic Highs
By RVDA Director of Industry Relations Jeff Kurowski
Wall Street may not have liked that RV shipments and sales declined in 2019, but the fact remains—sales remained high by historic standards.
Take travel trailers and fifth wheels, for instance. According to figures from Statistical Surveys Inc., Grand Rapids, MI, these segments grew in consumer popularity during the past five years, and more of these units sold last year than in 2015. Among motorhomes, Class A lost sales but Classes C and B gained.
Although travel trailer retail sales in the United States dropped 5.6 percent last year compared with 2018 (from 290,000 units to 273,700 units), last year was still 32 percent higher than it was five years ago. And it was only 1.5 percent lower than in 2017.
Fifth wheel retail sales followed a similar pattern, declining 7.5 percent last year to 77,000 units, from a little over 83,000 units in 2018--but last year’s sales were 15.9 percent higher than in 2015, and only 2.7 percent lower than in 2017.
Folding camper retail sales declined during the past five years, but that occurred mainly because teardrop and hard-sided expandable trailers are substitutes included in the travel trailer category.
In the motorhome sector, Class Bs, although a lower-volume category, have shown a steady increase in popularity during the past five years. In fact, Class B motorhome sales in the United States rose 5.2 percent last year to a little over 5,500 units, versus 5,240 units in 2018. Sales also were 98.8 percent higher in 2019 that in 2015.
Class C motorhomes overtook Class As in terms of retail sales volume during the past five years. A little more than 24,000 Class Cs were sold in the United States during 2019, versus a little more than 17,900 Class As retailed last year. In fact, 2015 was the most recent year during which Class A sales exceeded Class Cs.
The data presented in this article is from Statistical Surveys, a provider of market intelligence to the RV, marine, and manufactured housing industries. RVDA endorses Statistical Survey’s RV industry data program “Spotfire,” which gives dealers data visualization and analytics that can yield valuable insights for better decision-making, including data on where new units are being registered and which dealers sold which units by make, model, length and axles. RVDA members receive a 10 percent discount on data purchases from Statistical Surveys.