Name: Why RV Sales Are Growing
Uploaded: 2021-05-30T14:38:18.000Z
Duration: 15 min 32 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

In the years that followed the financial crisis, sales of RVs

Adverbs of degree

Once considered a pretty dowdy way to travel.

RVs have benefited from slick industry ad campaigns, relatively

low gas prices, and a renewed interest among Americans of all

ages including retiring boomers and younger RVers lured by a

Sales began to drop in 2018, but the latest boon to the business

So it's a common thing that we've been hearing from our dealers,

from customers, friends of mine, the same way that maybe never

considered the lifestyle, but they needed a place to get from

point A to point B and an RV truly is the safest way to do it.

We've been wanting to buy a camper for a while now, and we knew

that if we got a camper or the sooner we got a camper the more

And so this gave us the nudge to do that.

RV companies such as Winnebago and Thor Industries have seen

RV sales grew from 2010 to 2017 in most years by double digits

annually. The new boost from the pandemic could fuel growth for

But it also risks straining the industry's capabilities.

Some longtime RVers and industry watchers say the RV industry's

rapid growth has come with its share of pains.

Some say they are seeing reports of quality issues with RVs

They attribute it to the boom in production and intense price

competition among manufacturers looking to lure new customers.

Surging demand has strained the supply chain and production

Elkhart, Indiana, where the vast majority of RVs are made.

Data indicate first time buyers are pouring into dealerships and

shows looking for their own happy home on the road.

This is a promising sign for a business built around a lifestyle

even RVers admit was once seen as deeply uncool.

But long timers say new customers need to do their research

before signing and understand what the RV life is really about.

It can be wonderful, but people need to do their homework first

just to make sure it's a dream come true rather than a

A recreational vehicle, broadly speaking, is one that has spaces

and features that enable people to essentially live in it

There are many types that fall under this banner.

The two main categories are towables and motorhomes, which each

break down further into different subcategories, such as camper

Vehicles in these different segments range in size, the

amenities they offer, and in their sticker prices, which can run

from thousands of dollars to more than a million.

Towables which are hitched to the back of cars or trucks, make

up 90% of the market, according to the RV Industry Association.

Motorized versions make up the other 10%.

Towables allow consumers to get in at a lower price point because

you're not paying for the engine in the automotive portion.

So as long as you've got a vehicle that can tow it, it allows

people to get in and a little more affordably way.

As the industry has grown, RVs have become larger and more

sophisticated with features that ever more closely resemble

The RV industry is as old as the automotive industry itself.

Historians place its birth in the year 1910, just about seven

years after the Ford Motor Company was established.

1910 was the year the first motorized campers were made.

Up to that point, people who wanted to sleep comfortably on

wheels had to resort to outfitted railway cars.

Most of these early designs were pretty simple, and they were

devoid of many of the conveniences found in contemporary RVs,

such as fully functional kitchens and bathrooms.

Yet these new campers found a market among Americans eager for a

new tool to help with comfortable travel.

A culture of tin can tourists began to sprout in America in the

1920s. By the 1930s, RVs included beds, dining tables, water

and electricity. Progress continued into the 1950s and 1960s,

around the time many of the current RV manufacturers were

founded. RVs became an established American cultural phenomenon

Despite this, they were for a long time considered, well, not

really hip. People thought that RVing was young people thought

it was very corny and just for retired people.

And of course, that's change now in the last few years.

As the U.S. economy recovered from the recession, spurred by the

financial crisis of 2008, the RV industry saw several years of

impressive growth. Sales of the iconic brand Winnebago grew from

Sales of market leader Thor Industries, which owns the also

iconic Airstream brand, grew from $2.3 billion in 2010 to

around $8 billion dollars in 2018 and 2019.

Part of what fueled this is a dramatic spike in interest among

members of very different generations, say industry analysts.

So-called baby boomers are retiring and looking to spend more

time traveling. These customers fit industry analyst Chuck

Woodbury characterization of road going grandparents eager to

But there has also been a sharp rise in younger buyers, fueled

Van life is often rendered with a hashtag signifying the role

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Why RV Sales Are Growing

intense

struggle

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pandemic