RV shipments in October declined sharply again over last year with traditional travel trailers leading the way. The RV Industry Association’s (RVIA) October 2022 survey of manufacturers determined that total RV shipments ended the month with 32,652 units, a decrease of 43.7% compared to the 57,971 units shipped in October 2021. Through October, RV shipments are down 12.2% compared to the same time last year with 448,246 wholesale shipments.
The previous RVIA shipment report, for September, also showed shipments declining sharply with total RVs shipped dipping 28,333 units, a decrease of 48.5% compared to the 55,014 units shipped in the year before.
“As we enter the holiday season, shipments of RVs continue to normalize from last year’s record production,” said RV Industry Association President and CEO Craig Kirby.
Towable RVs, led by conventional travel trailers, ended the month down 48.3% against last October with 27,329 shipments. Motorhomes finished the month up 4.1% compared to the same month last year with 5,323 units.
The chart below shows 2021/2022 month over month total shipments (park models are not included).
##RVT1080b
Instead of the manufacturer’s using this “slow time” to maybe build them properly, the layoffs are already starting. Now they can keep up the crazy pace of work and still put out a shitty product.
Would be interesting to see retail vs wholesale. On a recent trip from MN to South TX and back on different roads, every dealership was jammed with RVs in their lots. We all know the mfgs had huge backlogs that still affect current numbers. Without more details, these numbers cannot be properly analyzed or understood.
Good to see Class Bs still on the upswing. Almost 34% year over year so far in 2022! Our community has been growing steadily over the past 10 years.
I don’t really feel sorry for the manufacturers. They made their $$$! Hopefully they were smart enough to set some aside for the inevitable market downturn. I’m sure some were not.
It seems to me the reduction of CRAP new units available will positively affect the value of my well maintained 2006 Tiffin Phaeton 40QSH DP. Us “old farts” who value what we spent hard worked for money years ago might realize the value of taking care of what we have. RVing takes work, money and patience which is in short supply with the “newbies”.
Somewhat useless article. Thanks for the data, but no information. WHY are the shipments down? (Demand falling off? or Supply chain constraints? or ????? )
Without any facts to back it up, I’d say the pandemic scare is over and the people who flew to their vacations and stayed in the full service hotels, restaurants and what have you returned to their previous way of life. The ones that did venture into our world found that this lifestyle requires a lot of work which they are unaccustomed to.
I agree Bob. I’ve been saying that a large majority of the “pandemic RV buyers” will be bailing out soon. It’s starting to happen. Used/pre-owned RVs are flooding the market and why buy new when you can buy slightly used cheaper.
They do this every RVIA release. It’s a great update on the sales volume. Many areas saw the same covid bump and everything is reverting to long term averages. If you want to read more about this go to blackbook market insights.