Canadian motorhome sales stats

[markopolo]

I've been following the monthly reports on Canadian motorhome sales stats. Sale were down 29% for 2015 and are down 54% this January compared to last January.

Canadian Coach Sales | RV Business

Off, drop, tumble, slide, plummet, decline, fall, skid, incur, retreat, decrease, dip .............. we're running out of descriptors up here!

But for extended financing terms the lights would probably be turned off.

Some private sellers owe more than their RV's are worth. They'd have to come up with $1,000's in addition to the sales price to clear the lien.

It's very important to do a lien search when buying used.

Lets hope things improve.

[booster]

Would that also imply that there would be some very good prices in the used market, or are those holding up because the new ones are too expensive? Very different market than U.S., which still seems to be doing well.

[wincrasher]

For things to improve in Canada would mean we all start paying alot more for fuel. Thanks, but I don't like the Canadians THAT much.

[Ridenfun]

Win, had to comment on your statement. For things to improve in Canada would require that we INCREASE our oil export rates both the the US (via Keystone XL that was killed) but more importantly to markets outside N.America via east and west oil lines, both of which we keep stumbling on ourselves. This would mean we don't rely on only the US market, to which we sell at a discount of approx. 20+% vs world prices.
Unit sales are down in part because of the economy and level of optimism in general, but also due to the lowered Cdn $, meaning new units are way up in price. Even the Cdn built units functionally price to the U.S. market level, more or less.

[markopolo]

There are very few good deals in the used market in this region that I've seen. That's based on asking prices as I don't know what the units end up selling for. When something really well priced comes up it sells very quickly.

Larger Canadian centers have better deals. A few months back new Travato 59G's were listed at $89,900 at a dealer in Ontario. They weren't fully loaded but had a nice set of options. There would not be any pricing remotely close to that out this way.

An ex-rental RT popped up here for about a day recently and my guess is that it sold that day. It was low mileage and even penny pinching me had to concede that the price wasn't bad. You could do better but you'd have to incur travel costs to do so might as well buy here.

Travel Trailers might be 90% of the market around here. That might be an exaggeration but not by much. Very few used Class B's come up for sale here. 75% of the ones that do are similar vintage or older than my current van.

Just my opinion & observations.

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by Ridenfun

Win, had to comment on your statement. For things to improve in Canada would require that we INCREASE our oil export rates both the the US (via Keystone XL that was killed) but more importantly to markets outside N.America via east and west oil lines, both of which we keep stumbling on ourselves. This would mean we don't rely on only the US market, to which we sell at a discount of approx. 20+% vs world prices.
Unit sales are down in part because of the economy and level of optimism in general, but also due to the lowered Cdn $, meaning new units are way up in price. Even the Cdn built units functionally price to the U.S. market level, more or less.

Appreciate the extra insight. It's all tied to oil in the end as Canada's economy is too reliant on oil and wood products. With the housing bust down here, and then oil, it's been a 1-2 punch. That undoubtedly has effected the currency valuation. Time will fix all of this, as these things move in cycles. But that's not much consolation to the folks bearing the brunt of it.

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by markopolo

Off, drop, tumble, slide, plummet, decline, fall, skid, incur, retreat, decrease, dip .............. we're running out of descriptors up here!

They had to re-use Tumble (and decline and drop) to describe what's going on up here ...............

SSI: Feb. Canadian Coach Sales Tumble 22.8% | RV Business

[Davydd]

Tumble or not, it seems there is a Goldilocks trend of Class Bs being too small and expensive, Class As being to big and expensive and Class Cs just right.

[obgraham]

Judging by what snowbird folks told me in Arizona this past winter, Canadians are hanging onto their cash as much as possible. The devaluation hit them really hard. Real estate sales to Canadians was WAY down -- I expect RV's the same.

Looney is up a bit now -- when it gets closer to par sales will pick up.

[markopolo]

Looks like Class C registrations in Canada are booming.

SSI: C’s Drive Canada March Coach Sales Up 51% | RV Business

In the Class C sector, sales climbed 94.4% in March and 123.1% year-to-date. Thor led the category with a 54.8% market share while Winnebago captured 27.8% and Forest River gained 15.7%.