RV dealers stock up on trailers, turn away from motorhomes

2024 was a disastrous year for the RV industry. Now that the calendar has turned, it will be interesting to see how 2025 shapes up. If statistics from the RV Industry Association are any indicator, RV dealers are taking a cautious approach. It’s a towables good, motorhomes bad scenario. While they’re snapping up towable units at a much higher rate, motorhomes are apparently considered bad news.

RVIA statistics show towables good, motorhomes bad

Results for the RV Industry Association’s January 2025 survey of manufacturers found that total RV shipments ended the month with 27,629 units. That shows an increase of 21.9% compared to the 22,674 units shipped in January 2024. Certainly that’s the good news side of the story. On the other hand, where did that movement come from—or not come from?

Towable RVs, led by conventional travel trailers, ended the month up 27.6% from last January with 24,906 shipments. Motorhomes finished the month down (-13.6%) compared to the same month last year with 2,723 units.

Breaking it down, here’s the finer detail of just what RV dealers are buying. In a surprising move, dealers have actually bet more on fifth wheels and truck campers than on travel trailers. This, of course, is based on an increase of purchases according to percentages. Dealers bought 44% more fivers this January than they did last. Truck campers saw a 32% increase.

But motorhomes just can’t seem to shake a seeming market stench. Class B camper vans were “off” nearly 20% comparing January 2025 dealer purchases to January 2024. For the same period, Class C motorhomes were trailing almost 14%. Bucking the months-long trend, Class A motorhomes saw a little silver lining in their normal dark marketing clouds. They had the “best” month, if you can call it that, having lost only 4.7% in wholesale movement to RV dealers.

We wonder just what the fly on the walls of RV manufacturers’ corporate offices hear when the discussion takes up, “towables good, motorhomes bad”?

RELATED

• More reports on RV shipments
• 2024 RV shipments expected to be about same as 2023
• New RV sales were up, but declined in November
• Most popular states and cities for new RV sales

More articles you might really like

• RV review: 2025 Forest River Wildwood Grand Lodge 44VIEW
• Lessons learned from the theft of our RV in storage
• 30,435 Grand Design RVs recalled again for same gas leak danger
• Is it time to quit RVing? Our readers respond
• RV electricity: How to install a 30-amp RV outlet at home
• Around the Campfire: RVers discuss the downsides to workamping
• Camping World owes many RVers big refunds. 

##RVT1198b