Trouble finding a used Class B? It might get worse.

[markopolo]

Here's some data and a chart I put together from Class B shipment stats available on the web.

(units in thousands in the table but actual numbers for the chart)


New Class B unit shipments really dropped off in 2008 and haven't recovered their pre-2008 volume yet. The whole industry (and economy) was affected as we all know, not just Class B's.

Shipments for the 4 years from 2004 to 2007 totaled 11,300 units.
Shipments for the 4 years from 2008 to 2011 totaled 6,600 units.
There's almost a 5000 unit difference for those two 4 year periods!

Finding a late model used Class B is going to be harder than it was in the past. Fewer units were shipped out to dealers.

Note: Class B shipments are low volume compared to other RV classes. The stats are reported per 1,000 units so the rounding off of the numbers could affect the accuracy of the stats. They only round to 1 decimal point. You'll see monthly Class B shipments rounded to .2 or .3 or .1 or even .0 - maybe all the accumulated rounding balances out.

[Jenise]

Interesting. We sure found it tough to find a used one--any used one, just to look at and picture ourself travelling in it not to mention comparing brands. Only found one for sale in Washington state where we live, so ended up test-driving brand new about 100 miles from here. The first used one we saw the inside of was actually the one we bought.

And talk about lucking out: we didn't even know this style of Class B motorhome existed until we saw one parked on a roadside with a For Sale sign last fall. We had a kind of "What's THAT?" moment pulled over to look, but you couldn't really see inside the dark windows so we just noted the phone number. It disappeared before we got around to calling. But we did go look it up on the internet and realized it was probably just what we were looking for: larger and more homey than a Westphalia, but by no means a bus. We don't want a second home, we wanted to TRAVEL. We finally settled on the Pleasureway Plateau TS. We spent months searching another local option to no avail, and were considering out of state options when a friend's mother became extremely ill while at her winter home in Yuma. They flew down there to drive mom and her "motor home" back to our neighborhood: you guessed it, a Plateau TS. We agreed to buy it before we even saw it, knowing only that it was white and had just 25,000 old lady miles on it.

[Ron J. Moore]

Jenise, you might try the Roadtrek International site, they always have some for sale...and they cover a wide variety of years. Safe travels, Ron.

[Jenise]

Ron, thanks, but we did buy the Pleasureway mentioned. Btw, we didn't consider a Road Trek because we were only interested in a two-seater. I was told by a dealer that Road Treks could be ordered new that way, but in fact almost nobody does it. I didn't run across a single example.

[teachergal]

Welcome to the Pleasure-Way Family! I have a 2011 Plateau and I just love it! I've had it about a month and a half and had to travel to South Florida to get it. I also got a great deal - the previous owner purchased it new last Oct and then had to sell it in Feb with just 2200 miles on it! Almost everything is still brand new!

I hope you will enjoy it!

[markopolo]

Some good news to report. The upward trend in Class B wholesale shipments continues.



2,123 Class B's were shipped in 2012. That is still below the 3,000 or so peak in 2007 but it is encouraging to see.

On the retail side, Class B stats should be reported soon. The last I saw were through November 2012. I'm not in the industry so I don't get direct reports.

From RV Business:

Year-over-year Class B motorhome sales increased 5.6% in November and 31.4% for the first 11 months, according to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc.

Through November, Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. retained its lead in Class B sales, owning a 36.4% market share, while fellow Canadian builder Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. was second with a 19.6% share.

Thor Industries Inc. was the top U.S. manufacturer for the 11 months, holding the No. 3 slot with an 18.2% market share, followed by Winnebago Industries Inc. at 16.2%.

[peteco]

Where do you find these sales statistics?

Pete
2006 RT210P

[markopolo]

Sales info came from RV Business http://www.rvbusiness.com/2013/01/ss...-nov-31-4-ytd/
Wholesale data came from RVIA - Recreation Vehicle Industry Association http://www.rvia.org/?ESID=shipments

[markopolo]

It is interesting looking at the data.

121 Towables were shipped for every 1 Class B shipped

If you add up the 9 years I have data for (and divide by 9) then an average year for Class B shipments would be 2,225 so this upward trend could continue. (2,123 Class B's shipped in 2012)

If all shipments become sales or directly correlate to sales then Roadtrek with a 36% market share produces 2.4 Roadtreks per day if they have a 6 day production week or 2.9 Roadtreks per day if it is a 5 day production week.

Wow!

[markopolo]

Sales statistics for the year 2012 have been published on RV Business.

Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. 36.3% market share.
Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. 19.6% market share.
Thor Industries Inc. (Airstream) 18.2% market share.
Winnebago Industries Inc. at 16.5% market share.

Class B motorhome sales grew 31.4% for the year. That's good news for the builders and also for those of us that buy used campervans.

[Rok]

Glad we're getting ours now......before the REAL rush comes this summer.

.........Rocky