Has the RV Boom Ended?

Across the RV industry these days, the question on everyone's mind is has the RV boom ended?

The recent economic downturn is claiming lots of victims and the RV industry is no exception The industry is still very strong and no one is panicking - yet - but the indications are that sales, production, RV travel, and consumer demand are all starting to slide.

That's the main topic of this week's Episode 403 of the RV Podcast, along with the RV News of the week, RV questions, tips, and audience feedback.

You can watch the video version of the podcast in the player below on our YouTube RV Lifestyle Channel.

If you prefer an audio-only version, you can get it on your favorite podcast app or click the player below to head it on the device you are reading right now.

The RV Industry has been stressed for the past two years

The RV industry has been under pressure for two years now

Like every other segment of society, inflation and shortages have been issues that the RV Industry has been mightily struggling with for the past two years.

Add to that plant shutdowns, backlogged orders, a severe worker shortage and you have a severe crisis – a crisis the industry fought hard and, just as the calendar turned 2022, was largely overcoming.

Finally, inventory levels were increasing, and dealers had new RVs to show consumers, who in some cases have had to wait as long as two years to take delivery of a new RV… often at a considerably higher price than when they ordered it.

It was most definitely a seller’s market.

But then… then came talk about the word that nobody wanted to say, a word that, when last it hit in 2008, all but crippled the industry and gave it its darkest days in history. That word is recession.

The RV Industry has bad memories of the last recession

Has the RV Boom ended? Class A motorhomes waiting for buyers.

If we are not now in one, the nation’s economy is perilously close.

The first concrete warning signs started as the first quarter was ending. Record high fuel prices started being set weekly. In just a few months really, fuel costs doubled. Today, gas is routinely $5 a gallon, or more. Diesel is a bit over $6.

Those outrageous pump prices were enough to cool a booming market. But the double whammy came last month with the Fed’s major increase in interest rates.

Rising interest rates mean much less attractive financing and many buyers were priced out even before that.

So what COVID couldn’t do, what the supply chain mess couldn’t do, what all the other issues failed to do, those ever rising fuel costs and interest rate hikes have done: They have curbed the unprecedented public demand for RVs. Not a lot. Not yet. But steadily, bit by bit, the industry is seeing the writing on the wall.

The RV Boom of record demand and record sales is not what it is.

RV Makers are playing it safe through "Production Adjustments"

The industry is adjusting production

In recent weeks, some RV manufacturers have announced “production adjustments.” That means they are slowing down the assembly lines. One major RV maker I know of has gone to a four day work week to cut costs and be poised for whatever is coming next. Others, I’m sure, are doing similar “adjustments.”

To a certain degree, this happens seasonally every summer.