What do you want first, the good news or the bad news? Okay, you want the good news. All right, here you go: About a third fewer RVs were shipped by manufacturers this January (2023) than the year before. So that’s probably more good news than bad news for you and me and other RVers because fewer new RVers will be taking up our limited campsites, which, alas, are already booked months in advance, even a year or more in popular areas.
Okay, we admit that this is selfish thinking, wanting to save campsites for ourselves!
The bad news?
Well, it’s bad news if you work in the RV industry, where the difference between success and failure is measured by how many RVs are made, shipped and sold. It’s bad news for the many workers in Elkhart, Indiana, where most RVers are made, who have been laid off their jobs.
This past January, 19,664 new RVs were registered around the USA, a 30.5% decrease from the 28,297 units in the same period in 2022. So says Statistical Surveys Inc., the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company that tracks retail and consumer data for the RV industry.
Travel trailers did best, with 12,491 shipped from U.S. factories. Fifth wheel trailers were second with 3,292 shipped. But, ouch — shipments of motorhomes paled by comparison: Only 671 Class A rigs were shipped, 1,266 class C’s and 897 class B’s.
In Canada, 459 travel trailers were shipped, 71 fifth wheels and a grand total of 48 motorhomes of all types. Not good, eh*?
*Eh is Canadian-talk.
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