Year to Date Stats on Motorized Market

The overall U.S. motorized market incurred a 14.4% year-over-year sales decline for the first nine months of 2019 as both Class A and Class C markets registered double-digit retail sales declines.

According to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc. (SSI), Thor Industries Inc. was the motorized sales leader during the period with a 41% market share, ahead of Forest River Inc. (22.5%) and Winnebago Industries Inc. (12.6%).

The Class A motorhome market was down 13.6% through September as Thor led the segment with a 34.1% market share. Tiffin Motorhomes Inc. held the No. 2 spot with a 15.4% share of the market followed by Forest River Inc. (15%).

Class C sales retreated 15% for the nine months with Thor leading the category holding a 45.9% market share, followed by Forest River (27.9%) and Winnebago Industries Inc. (13.4%).

The RV Concierge 

The RV Concierge

What are the Markets Telling US

The U.S. financial markets, based on current stock prices, seem to be signaling a rather positive trend lately regarding the U.S. RV industry following the recent round of corporate financial reports, stated RVBUSINESS.com.

In spite of a continuing 2019 contraction in wholesale shipments, which are off approximately 20% from a year ago, industry OEMs and suppliers appear to have effectively adjusted operations to match current demand in a market in which shipments are expected to be about 400,000 units in 2019, according to RVIA’s Market Report.

The financial markets and investors apparently see these positive trends as stock prices for public industry companies have shown significant strength in recent weeks, reports RVBusiness Partner Gregg Fore, pointing to these stock prices, cited by Yahoo Finance, on three different dates (Nov. 1, 2018; Aug. 15, 2019; and Oct. 25, 2019):

• Thor Industries — $73.00 … $42.72 … $65.00
• Winnebago — $29.15 … $32.15 … $50.00
• REV Group — $11.75 … $11.47 … $12.71
• Patrick Industries — $45.21 …  $37.25 … $45.88
• Lippert Comp. — $77.72 … $82.82 … $97.50

Some analysis derived from their most recent earnings reports, according to Fore:

• Patrick Industries Inc:. — Third quarter and year-to-date revenues are very balanced vs. 2018.
• Lippert Components Inc. _ Continued acquisition activity and cost/price controls apparently provide a strong base for continued performance improvement.
• Thor Industries Inc. — Operating margin improvement as the market balanced, providing strong cash flow and the ability to pay-down debt.
• Winnebago Industries Inc. — Solid year-over-year earnings and revenues much stronger than industry as a whole along with a strong and balanced backlog.
• REV Group Inc. — Very stable RV results in the most difficult RV sector – motorized RV’s.

Summation: It seems that the results for the remainder of 2019 are already built into the stronger stock prices and the expectation is for a relatively strong spring quarter in 2020.

Today's Update on RV's

So, yesterday's post was mainly about the Motorized RV's that are out in the market place.  Their is so much more information to share with you on that, but before we dive into the segment of the market, I thought that we would also cover the Travel Trailer and 5th Wheel segments of the market.

Let's start with Travel Trailers.  Their are some variations of TT's in the market place.  You have pop-ups, hybrids, stick and tin (tradional built), and lastly fiberglass built travel trailers.   Let's look at some photos of the different types of TT's that are out in the market place now.

Pop Up TT



Pop up trailers have been around for a long time and have evolved a ton of the years.  Now, some will include showers, cooktops, and even AC's on top to keep the unit cooled down in the summer months.

Hybrid TT



This unit is a combination of HARD sides (laminated) and also the expanding slides on the ends to create extra sleeping space.

Tradional Travel Trailer 



This is the traditional travel trailer which is built like a home with 2x2 studing and tin metal sides that slide into place similar to vinyl siding.  This is the oldest form of construction that has been use in the RV industry for a long long time.

Fiberglass Travel Trailer (Laminated walls) 



Fiberglass walls are laminated together (2 different processes) and then a Fiberglass cap or wrapped fiberglass front are applied.  On the rear of the coach you can also have a hung wall, laminated wall, and even a fiberglass rear cap.


Now lets cover the 5th wheel segment.  Really there in only one style of 5th wheel in the market place.  But, with that being said it is a huge segment and has a lot of variations that we can get into an discuss.  For now, I'll just show you a few different 5th wheels for your review.


Fifth Wheels 



With all kinds of lengths, weights, and heights you can see where this too would be a huge segment in the market.  Add in the addition of 1-slide up to I believe 6 slides now, and this will create a massive amount of 5th wheels from half-ton to one ton units in the market place. 

This pretty much covers the travel trailer and 5th wheel segments in the market place.  On my next post I will breakdown all the manufacturer's, brands, and what I believe to be all the builders in the market place that are registered with RVIA which is the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association.  If there are any manufacturers out there that don't belong to this association I would be careful.  With this association we all have to adhere to some guidelines in terms of building product for the RV industry.

Thanks for now,

The RV Concierge

The Basics of RV's

October 24, 2019

Let's start with the basics when it comes to RV's.  What I would like to do is to cover all the different types of RV's that are currently in the market place.  It has evolved over the years, but for the most part these are really the different variations of RV's that are out there now:

Class A Motorhomes - These motorhomes are built on a platform, and it this case it is either a gas platform or a diesel platform.  See my examples below.

Gas Platform




Diesel Platform



What's the Difference between the too?

On a gas platform the engine is in the front and will already have the steering wheel assembly ready for the manufacturing company to start building upon.  On the diesel platform the engine is in the rear, hence the word DIESEL PUSHER.  More than likely it to will have the front steering assembly and maybe even some sort of a front fire wall when it comes from the OEM.

In the Class A gas market their is only one player in the market and that is Ford.  The chassis that is used is the F 53 Class A chassis.  The F 53 Ford chassis are powerec by the Ford 6.8L 3 valve V10 with 6 speed TorqShift automatic transmission.The 6.8L features a free-breathing 3-value-per-cyclinder induction system and generates an impressive 320 horsepower and 460 lb ft. of torque.

In the Class A diesel market their are a couple of players.  The most widely used is the Freightliner diesel chassis, and on most of the upper end diesels, the other manufacturer is Spartan.  Their are a number of different chassis configurations along with different engine combinations on the diesel pushers and I would like to do a whole separate blog on just diesel pushers at a later date.

Class B Motorhomes  Same as above that Class B motorhomes can come in either a gas or diesel version.  In the market place you have a couple of different options when it comes to platforms.  You have the Mercedes diesel platform and also Ford has the transit gas platform.

Mercedes Platform



Mercedes Platform CutAway



Not to get to confusing at this point, but you can build on the Mercedes as an enclosed van or also use the cutaway and build a house on the back.  More to cover on that later as we step in B's and B+'s.  Some will even refer to the cutaway as a Class C.  But, I don't want to create to much confusion now.

Ford Transit Platform



Ford Transit Cutaway Van



Pretty much that same applies here with either a Class B or having the box build on the back and now it's a Class B+.  Again, if this were built with an overhead bunk it would slide into the Class C market. More to come on this in a later chapter.

Class C Motorhomes  The Class C market is mainly characterized by a gas platform.  However, some manufacturers have used a diesel platform from above and built their Class C product on a diesel Mercedes platform.  You don't see it a lot, but it is out there and I want to make you aware of it.  Traditional Class C's will always have a bunk above the driver and passenger seats.  In this section we will also introduce the SUPER C, which brings a whole other segment of RV's into this section.  Pictures are always worth a thousand words, so I will show you a number of pics that will help paint the picture of this segment.

Ford E-450 Cutaway RV Chassis



Ford E-350 Cutaway RV Chassis



Yes, it's hard to tell the difference between the two.

Chevrolet Express Cutaway



At this point, we also have to introduce you into the Super C market with some of the following chassis's that are being built in the market place.


Ford F-500 chassis



Freightliner Super C platform



Well, I think this covers a very broad spectrum of the RV industry and the different segments that are out there in the motorized markets.  Their are some smaller companies building RV's basically from one of these foundations and marketing to the public, but for the most part all of your bigger companies are building RV's in these segments.

This should be a good start for us on the motorized side of things.  Next, we will go over the non-motorized segments with TT, FW, and smaller tent camps.

Hope all this helps,

The RV Concierge

Daily Updating the RV Industry

October 23, 2019

State of the Union for the RV industry.  Since we are almost thru this year and it's been quite a run for the last few years, really like 9 years now, I thought that I would address some of the concerns of the rv industry and a STATE OF THE UNION sort to speak.

Yes, the industry is down some this year, but with that being said it is still tracking to be like the 4th or 5th best year in the history of this industry.  I've been in the RV industry for 27+ years now and so I've seen a lot of the years.  Yes, I survived the recession of 2008 that started with the company I was working for going out of business that year.  Without getting into all the numbers, percentage, ect, yes it is pretty tough out there right now.  I've been in both the wholesale side of the business as well as the retail side of the business as a GM, GSM, and finance manager.  So, I've seen how it affects both sides of the business model.

What I would like to say to you, the consumer is that it is an "EXCEPTIONAL" time in the market place to make a purchase.  Manufacturing has slowed down, which means that we are building better product and at a slower pace than in 16' and 17'.  Dealers are anxious to move product and willing to sell their products (sometimes at a loss) to help facilitate busy for their stores.  There are still a lot of indicators out there that make it a great time to make a purchase right now.  Consumer confidence is strong, interest rates are still relative low, the economy is still plugging away and more importantly dealers are willing to make fantastic deals to move inventory.  Waiting till next year could result in you paying more or even a lot more than NOW.

Why am I writing this?  I wanted to start this blog years ago and so how much I could get it to grow.  So, now I'm ready to dig in and get this BLOG going.  With my 27 years of experience I want to write a daily blog about this wonderful industry and all that is has to offer.  RVing is a lifestyle that can be life change for some, spending time with family and friends, and a vehicle for you the consumer to see this great country and more.  Stop putting off your dreams and start living now.

Please send me your feedback as I want to write about anything relative to the RV industry from products to marketing, selling, ect.  If it has to do with the RV industry and want to write about it.  We can dig into companies, brands, dealers, after-market, it is endless and I want to post everyday something that would benefit you the consumer.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow.


The RV Concierge