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
10 comments:
It's pretty basic, it is the gas prices. The average Joe out there sees the high gas prices every time they fill up at the pump. Look at all the new small cars out there and the impact on the auto industry. With this in mind, very few are considering buying an RV. Gas prices are keeping RV travel down and people are not buying as many RV related goods. People are concerned about buying food and paying bills and gas has eaten into their disposable incomes. Yes the deflated dollar and high oil prices has had a huge impact on the economy, but to the RVer, the impact due to gas prices is fast and immediate.
Up here in Canada the Ford F-150 had been the best selling vehicle in he past several years. Guess what? Not this year. All of a sudden it's small cars. Any guesses why?
Jim,
You're watching too much TV news. We are NOT in a recession. A recession is widely considered to be two quarters with negative growth. That hasn't happened.
And consider this: European countries would love our unemployment rate AND our gas prices.
Too many folks were spending their home equity on toys during the boom. The housing bubble burst; not the entire economy.
Let's quit spreading dismal news that isn't true!
It is to bad that speculators have ruined the ecomony for people, but greed is the name of the game and people do not care. Until people are happy with what they have, nothing will change. RVing is a great thing for common people to meet and mingle with anyone. For the ones that can still do it, great for them, but remember, "Life is short and we do not know when we will not be able to do this again".
i think part of this is due to the RV makers making super-deluxe models without considering our needs. For instance, we looked at a new one a couple years ago, the bed had the corner cut off, so my husband (he sleeps only on the outside because his feet are too long) would have his legs unsupported above and knees. the kitchen sink was "euro styling" rather than useful. the bathroom sink was not in the bathroom, etc.
it was unusable, and so we spent money (solar panels, etc) to upgrade our old one, as the new expensive ones were worse, poor floorplans etc. do we really NEED corian countertops and heavy wood cupboard doors, rather than lightweight, gas friendly items?>
etc.
One thing I've learned in life....nothing is "pretty basic"
"Not in a recession"
Boy are you in an Orwellian bubble. We're in a depression. Regular people in the United States have been taking it up the rump since 1980, the anti-christ RonOld RayGun, followed up by loser after corporate controlled loser, especially the mentally retarded drunk cokehead that's spent the last 8 years in the White House without ever being elected. My God "Not in a recession". It's almost unthinkable that so many Americans are so out of touch with what's going on in there own country.
We need FDR soon or it's over for us. Conservatism has held back the growth of the US since it's enception, and were it not for FDR's safety net that the conservatives have been working like hell to eradicate we'd all be experiencing the Grapes of Wrath
The dealers and owners of the dealerships after filing chapter 11 will still be driving their BMW's. But my coach that they cant fix? I am the one that gets *#cked. And when it turns around? They will be back at it, High on the Hog while I am sitting on a 200,000.00 coach I couldnt even sale.
Hangem
I have owned 6 motorhomes in better times. Fuel was always reasonable and the purchase plans were acceptable and affordable. Corporate greed has run amuck and between the OPEC must have it all and the Energy company execs all wanting to retire at 35 as billionaires what are the rest of us to do. No longer affordable to operate a great way to travel will have to be just another thing we tell our Grandchildren instead of showing them.
The former clown in the Whitehouse helped get us into this mess and the current clown in the Whitehouse aided by the clowns in the house and senate will spend all of our money trying to figure it out. By then we will have passed into a much happier place with other RVers.
It's too bad that people want to put the total blame on Bush when it was Dodd and Barney that pushed for lenders to figure out how to have more people own homes and went blind to what FNMA and lenders like Countrywide were doing while they were getting sweetheart loans from CW. FDR's spending habits like our current President;s spending won't bring us out of this depression. Hopefully we won't have to have a world war to bring us out like FDR did. His spending habits just kept making things worse. Go back and read the history book assuming you can find one that hasn't been rewritten.
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