Millennials fuel RV sales growth
Travel trailers not just for retirees anymore
With summer approaching and outdoor sites beckoning, Amy Buckles just put a deposit down on a ticket to adventure — her first new travel trailer.
The 35-year-old newcomer from Bristol, Va., is among the first-time recreational vehicle buyers expected to drive sales to a record this year, the highest since the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association started tracking sales in 1979.
Manufacturers expect to ship 446,000 RVs in 2017, up 3.6% from last year’s 430,691, also a record. Even more encouraging is the age of the buyers. Sales largely are being driven by younger enthusiasts seeking cheap, versatile vacation travel, not just retirees looking to tour the country in motor homes.
Industry experts say low gas prices, favorable interest rates and an increased interest in the outdoors mean more Americans than ever see this as a good time to buy an RV.
“RVs tap into Americans’ values and desires to get out there, experience nature and see their families in a way that doesn’t break the bank,” RVIA spokesman Kevin Broom said.
Trailers, not motor homes, make up a large part of this growth, now accounting for 87% of the units sold, the association says. Buyers are likely to be Millennials, those in their 20s and early 30s, including young couples who don’t have kids yet. Baby Boomers, by contrast, buy motor homes more as a life-altering decision, one that will occupy most, if not all, of their time after retirement.
“The wave of new buyers … want to recreate without investing heavily,” said Sherman Goldenberg, publisher of trade
magazine RV Business. “They want to go camping on weekends but not be so committed that it’s a lifestyle change.”
That’s the reasoning Buckles and her husband, Josh, employed in their decision to buy a trailer rather than a motor home. She said travel trailers were easier to use and two or three times less expensive. But despite the lower commitment, she still wanted an RV that could withstand weekend trips as well as hold their three dogs.
“We really were focused on quality, first and foremost,” Buckles said. “We wanted something that would hold up well over the next few years.”
Even when consumers do turn to motor homes, they’re looking at smaller models, said Sam Jefson, spokesman for RV manufacturer Winnebago.
More Winnebago customers have shown interest in 21- to 24foot models, Jefson said.
Another factor in the recent growth trend is the fast-improving economy, Jefson added. RV sales have increased steadily since the 2008 financial crisis, when they dropped to a 17-year low after peaking in 2006. Now, the association estimates the total retail value of all RVs sold in 2017 will be $18.5 billion — and RV manufacturers say the increase in demand has made it difficult to keep up.
“Our plants are running at almost full capacity,” said Tim Stoehr, a marketing manager for Ford, the main producer of chassis for motor homes. “We’re picking up production incrementally in order to meet demand.”
For Buckles and many other first-time buyers, the focus is more on the short term. She and her husband hope to use their new trailer to drive to barbecue competitions and enjoy the outdoors in her local area, which means summer — and the freedom that comes with it — is just an RV purchase away.
“The wave of new buyers … want to recreate without investing heavily. They want to go camping on weekends but not be so committed that it’s a lifestyle change.” Sherman Goldenberg, publisher of trade magazine RV Business