RV, boat sales up, but weather, demographics present challenges

After taking a beating from the most recent recession, the recreational vehicle and boating industries are on the upswing.

Associations representing manufacturers of RVs and boats expect 2015 to be a year of positive sales growth, as do area dealers.

Shipments of RVs, in fact, are expected in 2015 to reach their pre-recession level of 365,000 units.

That’s a figure that was last attained in 2006, officials from the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association said. “That would be the sixth consecutive year of growth,” association spokesman Kevin Broom said.

The health of the economy and consumer sentiment are the primary drivers of new sales, dealers and industry officials said.

But there are other factors at play, including changing demographics and weather, that could improve or reverse those fortunes, they said.

Darren Ledgerwood, general manager of Flint Hills RV in Andover, said his family-owned company has seen a steady increase in business since 2013.

“The last two years, we’ve doubled our sales every year, and (this year) we’re 20 units up over last year,” Ledgerwood said, adding that RV sales include smaller camper trailers, larger fifth-wheel trailers and bus-sized motorized coaches.

Broom, of the Virginia-based RVIA, attributed improved business in the RV industry to a better economy and a stabilization of consumer confidence.

“And manufacturers have been putting out new, innovative products … lighter trailers with better fuel economy and can be pulled with smaller cars,” Broom said.

Boat dealers and manufacturers are seeing better times, too.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association expects sales of new powerboats to rise 5 percent in 2015.

That’s after a projected 7 to 8 percent increase in 2014 sales. Final 2014 sales figures will be published in June, said Thom Dammrich, president of the Chicago-based manufacturers association.

“I think we’re off to a very strong start this year and maybe better than that (5 percent projection),” Dammrich said.

He attributed a combination of gross domestic product at 3 percent or higher, improved consumer confidence and a recovery in new home sales as factors that are tied closely to the health of recreational boating.

Area boat dealers are largely bullish on their business.

Shelly Schroeder, general manager of Mid Kansas Marine in Andover, said new boat sales started picking up in the second quarter of last year.

“The new boat market is really increasing,” Schroeder said, adding that Mid Kansas Marine “will be over that” 5 percent sales increase that the manufacturers association is projecting.

“Really, boating in general is up,” she said.

At Marine World on West Kellogg, co-owner Nathan Blasi said boat sales have been good this year.

“I think the boating industry is moving in the right direction,” Blasi said.

Weather and water

Blasi said if there’s one “bump in the road” to boat sales locally, it’s drought and having enough water in area lakes.

He said at least half of Marine World’s customers put their boats in local lakes.

“It just helps having that (water in local lakes),” he said. “I’d love to get some water tomorrow and this weekend and the lakes filled back up.”

He said the dry weather is not an issue yet. But if the area doesn’t start to see some measurable rainfall that begins filling up local lakes, it could put a dent in sales.

“We have it good right now,” Blasi said. “I would say our only opponent is Mother Nature.”

Weather and drought can put a damper on boat sales, Dammrich acknowledged.

“It has a dramatic effect on boat sales once you get past … consumer confidence and everything else,” Dammrich said. “A cold spring will affect boat sales. (And) lake levels getting low, that absolutely has an effect on boat sales.”

Dammrich said another long-term concern for the industry is demographics.

“We have seen a little bit of decline in boat ownership by Gen X’ers and millennials,” Dammrich said. “That’s an issue that the industry needs to deal with.”

He said today’s average boat owner is in his or her mid-50s, and that age “is a little bit older than it would have been 15 to 20 years ago.”

An older consumer is what Ledgerwood thinks is pushing Flint Hills RV’s business higher.

“I honestly think all the baby boomers are hitting retirement – finally,” he said of the factor driving most of his company’s sales.

“They have the largest amount of expendable cash, and they’re buying,” Ledgerwood said. “I just think we waited for so long for these baby boomers (to retire), and now they’re starting to unleash.”

Broom said retiring baby boomers are a factor in rising RV shipments, although the average age of an RV owner hasn’t changed much in recent years.

He said that, in the latest formal survey conducted by the RV association in 2011, showed the average age of an RV owner was 48, which was down from 49 in a study before that.

“We know sort of anecdotally that baby boomers are buying, but so are younger families,” Broom said.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 5:37 PM with the headline "RV, boat sales up, but weather, demographics present challenges."