RV industry rides a smooth road to greater sales

These are the days when the salesmen at Wichita-area recreational vehicle dealers can catch up on paperwork, but the holiday slowdown won’t last long.

RV season cranks back up in January, and 2016 is looking pretty busy.

Following a steady rebound from the recession locally and nationally, the industry projects strong sales this year and next.

There was plenty of wreckage from the recession in the form of closed factories and dealers. Since 2008 about one-third of U.S. RV manufacturers, suppliers and dealers left the market or were acquired by other companies, according to the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association.

Locally, a number of well-known names disappeared. There are just four dealers of new RVs now, plus a few more that sell used vehicles or just do service. That’s down from 12 dealers in 2007.

For those who remained, their marketshare expanded dramatically and they have enjoyed very good years. Nationally, sales have doubled since the bottom in 2009 and the RVIA forecasts a 1.6 percent increase in 2016.

Bob Giesick, general sales and finance manager for Wichita RV, said sales were up about 10 percent over 2014. The company added a second location on the west side five years ago.

Giesick said he expects growth in 2016, but he thinks people remain uncertain about the future, particularly because of the coming presidential election.

“People are scared the new (president) will do worse than the last one,” he said.

Bill Ledgerwood, owner of Flint Hills RV in Augusta, said sales were up about 20 percent from 2014, and he hopes the coming year will see nearly as much growth.

He started the dealership in 1976 and sold it in 2003. He worked for the new owner, who got caught in the recession. He consulted with some people in the industry about the future before agreeing to buy it back.

“We bought it back in January 2012, and since then it’s been dynamite for us,” he said. “The best year we’ve ever had is this year.”

Gas prices are down, and that’s good in promoting sales and use of RVs, although not as big as some people would think, Giesick said.

“If they can afford to buy an RV, they can afford to use it,” he said.

Who buys RVs?

The RV rebound seems like a lot of consistent growth considering the Wichita economy overall has been both punishingly volatile and slow-growing since 2009.

Local dealers say they do see a lot of wealthy retirees, the cliched snowbirds whose numbers will only grow as baby boomers continue to retire in great numbers. But there are plenty of younger couples and families, as well.

And, they said, they have also seen quite a few oil drilling, pipeline, wind turbine and crop harvesting contractors who work way out in the country for days on end. An RV saves on motel bills and long commutes from bigger towns.

Kevin Broom, spokesman for the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, said that in a customer profile dating to 2011, the national industry described its average customer as 48 years old, with a median income of $62,000. Nearly 40 percent had children at home.

The RVs themselves have changed in a number of ways since the bloodletting in the recession, he said.

The technology has increased, with flat-screen TVs, DVDs with surround sound, Bluetooth so that RV systems can be run by a tablet, and even the use of composites in some places.

There are many segments in the motorhome industry, ranging from a full house on wheels to towable units to travel trailers to glorified vans.

Although there is a wide variety, it’s not a cheap investment. The towables cost considerably less but generally require a three-quarter-ton pickup, such as a Ford F-250 or Dodge Ram 2500, which can cost $45,000 to $60,000 new.

The industry is looking forward to a country that is increasingly populated by minorities and increasingly urban, and is trying to appeal to those populations.

“Recreation companies have benefited from the rural-based Caucasian baby boom,” association president Frank Hugelmeyer said in a release. “We are now evolving into an urban-based, multi-racial future, and we need to adapt to this.”

As a result of customer demands, Broom said, RVs are getting smaller, sleeker and more fuel efficient. Users want their RVs to be less expensive to operate, more maneuverable in cities and towns and more flexible.

“Another factor driving manufacturers to take the weight out? They’re building trailers to be towed by a minivan or an SUV, which can pull 3,000 to 3,500 pounds,” Broom said.

“If they can build something in that range, a family doesn’t have to buy a new pickup.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 4:41 PM with the headline "RV industry rides a smooth road to greater sales."