Class B Market Share, Sales and Shipments

[GeorgeRa]

Gas mileage and high fuel cost could drive this market change. As and large towables are primary guzzlers, followed by Cs and Bs have the best gas mileage.

[avanti]

A retired couple I know bought a towable out of the blue--with no experience and little knowledge. Predictably, their first trip was a disaster. They sold the unit within a month.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

A retired couple I know bought a towable out of the blue--with no experience and little knowledge. Predictably, their first trip was a disaster. They sold the unit within a month.

I think this is has been, and will continue to be, pretty common. Based on the huge number of brand new towables that we see in campgrounds there are an awful lot of newbies or expensive replacements that have been purchased for pandemic use. Many, I think, are now showing up in the resale market.


Similar thing appears to be happening with recreational boats here in Minnesota. Lots of boats sitting in yards and driveways with weeds up over the trailers this last summer. One our neighbors bought a boat early in the pandemic and used it 3 times, maybe a total of 6 hours of use. Last summer it did not move, and appears to be another lawn ornament along with and old car that has been there 20 years now.

[rockymtnb]

Class B wholesale shipments for November 2022 were 1047 units, a 37.5% drop from Nov 2021. Granted those are single month figures which fluctuate depending on chassis availability and production facility schedules. But it may portend an overall slowdown in otherwise torrid Class B market growth.

Overall Class B cumulative production is up 24% over last year. So it's still a strong market, but perhaps a bit less crazy than the last few years.

[phantomjock]

Originally Posted by booster

I think this is has been, and will continue to be, pretty common. ... Many, I think, are now showing up in the resale market.

Similar thing appears to be happening with recreational boats here in Minnesota. Lots of boats sitting in yards and driveways with weeds up over the trailers this last summer. One our neighbors bought a boat early in the pandemic and used it 3 times, maybe a total of 6 hours of use...

We put our sailboat up for sale pre-pandemic, in the premier location - Annapolis. Could not move it. Brokers literally ran out of boats to sell. Could not sell it. Well, it is a world cruising boat, well equipped, and not the weekender people were looking for. It did sell to a small family that wants to "leave" and are ready.
Now, the market has flipped and those who bought big boats are finding they are to much of everything, support, maintenance, and payments.

On one of our trips from FL to MD, there were more 5th wheel rigs heading North & South on I95 than semis. Last trip, back to normal.

Cheers - Jim

[Rocinante]

I will also note that on a very recent trip from Tampa toward Orlando on I-4 as we drove past a large RV dealer (General RV in Dover, FL) we could see a significant number of Class B RV's on the lot. Well over a dozen, maybe 20. They looked new. It's just a whole bunch, considering that for the longest time most dealers haven't had more than a few Class B's of any variety in stock. Does this indicate some sort of change in the market? I dunno, but it was a surprising sight to behold.

[avanti]

So, according to this:
https://rvbusiness.com/impact-of-spr...-the-industry/
there is a pending safety recall on Sprinters that is accompanied by a "do not sell" order. Apparently, this is having a significant effect on B-van sales numbers.

My interest in Sprinters is waning rapidly, so I didn't dig down. But, it sounds like the situation may be creating a noticeable blip in the sales statistics.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by avanti

So, according to this:
https://rvbusiness.com/impact-of-spr...-the-industry/
there is a pending safety recall on Sprinters that is accompanied by a "do not sell" order. Apparently, this is having a significant effect on B-van sales numbers.

My interest in Sprinters is waning rapidly, so I didn't dig down. But, it sounds like the situation may be creating a noticeable blip in the sales statistics.

“The problem — the guide bushing on the parking brake awl may fatigue, possibly resulting in the parking awl not engaging and resulting in vehicle rollaway — was to be rectified with a software update.”

Bushing fatigue to be repaired by software, interesting. 747 Max also fixed engines location problem with software, just took a while.

[rockymtnb]

Class B wholesale shipments once again set a record of 17,206 units for 2022, a healthy 23.1% Year-over-Year increase and the latest in a 3 year streak of record shipments. However signs of an overall softening RV market may be showing as both November and December recorded monthly declines compared to 2021.

Class B unit shipments by year:
2018 - 5881 units
2019 - 4248 units
2020 - 7222 units
2021 - 13827 units
2022 - 17206 units

Share of overall motorized RV market:

Class A - 25.9%
Class B - 29.1%
Class C - 45.0%

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by rockymtnb

Class B wholesale shipments once again set a record of 17,206 units for 2022, a healthy 23.1% Year-over-Year increase and the latest in a 3 year streak of record shipments.

Is this good news? The camping world is already overcrowded with too many campers and not enough campgrounds. We don't go to the "tier 1" national parks anymore, what with waiting lines, required reservations, and timed entry windows (just like Disneyland?). I'm still looking for that time machine to take me back 40 years.

[Punkinhead]

Originally Posted by N147JK

Is this good news?

My hope is the growth in B's will slow the "upgrading" of parks to accommodate huge Class As and Fivers. I love the state parks with narrow, windy, tree lined roads and small sites where the behemoths won't fit.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Punkinhead

My hope is the growth in B's will slow the "upgrading" of parks to accommodate huge Class As and Fivers. I love the state parks with narrow, windy, tree lined roads and small sites where the behemoths won't fit.

X2 plus some text so it will post X2

[rockymtnb]

Statistical Surveys Inc (SSI) has published the top 3 market share leaders for Class B registrations in USA and Canada:

39.8% Thor
38.2% Winnebago

3rd place was split for US and Canada, with REV Group taking a 6.3% market share in USA and PleasureWay garnering 21.7% of the much smaller Canadian market. In a normal year PleasureWay would have likely matched or exceeded REV but they recently discontinued their Promaster based Lexor series and suffered chassis supply issues on the Transit and Sprinter based units.

Last year SSI provided a more detailed brand specific breakout of the market for Class B Forum readers. I've asked SSI if they would be willing to share that breakout data again when it becomes available in March or April.

[Davydd]

Class Bs have a long way to go to make an impact. In the South Padre Island KOA out of over 200 campsites I counted 3 Class Bs and 8 Airstream Trailers. Most were Class As and 5th wheeler trailers.

On the other hand, in Rockport, TX Class Bs and small Cs dominated boondocking on the beach. Not so much in campgrounds.

[mumkin]

Very few Class B owners have any interest in staying at a KOA... or even a campground at all especially for the younger owners who are starting to dominate.

I personally find it a sad statement on the business when the market has been taken over by the company with the worst quality issues at the same time as the prices have skyrocketed.

[MsNomer]

In the Southwest, we find ourselves in nests of PM self-builds.

[Davydd]

South Padre Island has two campground, a 600 county park CG and the KOA. The county CG is not as nice and nearly the same price. KOA is my choice in this case, better location and more amenities. On the way down for 7 days it was HH, boondocking and moochdocking. I haven’t explored the beaches north of town yet to see if the boondocking is as nice as Rockport or at all. Most of the island is primitive but there is 6 miles of beach in the city but i haven’t seen any RVs on the city portion.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by mumkin

I personally find it a sad statement on the business when the market has been taken over by the company with the worst quality issues at the same time as the prices have skyrocketed.

It is indeed a sad statement and you see this everywhere you go. People have become conditioned to accept cheap, low quality materials and shoddy workmanship instead of understanding and appreciating what "well-made" means. We just don't teach that and pass that understanding along anymore. The race to the bottom continues.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by N147JK

It is indeed a sad statement and you see this everywhere you go. People have become conditioned to accept cheap, low quality materials and shoddy workmanship instead of understanding and appreciating what "well-made" means. We just don't teach that and pass that understanding along anymore. The race to the bottom continues.

People don’t want to pay the price for “well-made” They understand.

[Punkinhead]

Most people don't understand quality so they're unwilling to pay more when they can't spot the difference. They look at how shiny the cabinet doors are. They just don't have the background to be able to judge material selection and workmanship. Veneered pressboard core cabinets are going to swell and delaminate with moisture. Scotchlock connectors lead to unreliable wire splices, often hidden inside walls. Screws that are too long puncture pipes, wires, or even exterior walls.

The list of ways poor materials and workmanship are used in the RV industry is endless and most people who never had a job or hobbies that involved building/repairing things are not going to be able to spot them until after they've owned it for awhile.