Class B Market Share, Sales and Shipments

[markopolo]

Here's some Class B related news from Airstream published on RV Business today http://www.rvbusiness.com/2014/02/airst ... or-2013-2/

According to a press release, sales of Airstream’s Interstate Class B motorhomes were up 51% year-over-year while travel trailer sales increased 59%, putting production levels of all products at highs the company hasn’t seen since the 1970s. The demand for Airstream’s “design-driven” products led to the largest backlog the company had experienced in more than 30 years.

[markopolo]

December 2013 Class B Sales stats have been posted on RV Business: http://www.rvbusiness.com/2014/02/ssi-c ... 16-for-13/

Sales are up 28.3% for December and up 15.9% for all of 2013.

Year-over-year Class B motorhome sales rose 28.3% in December and 15.9% for the full year, according to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc.

October 2013 breakdown:
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. 38.6% market share.
Thor Industries Inc. 22% market share.
Winnebago Industries Inc. 17.6% market share.
Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. 17.5% market share.

November 2013 breakdown:
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. 38.8% market share.
Thor Industries Inc. 22.6% market share.
Winnebago Industries Inc. 17.1% market share.
Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. 17% market share.

2013 breakdown:
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. 38.7% market share.
Thor Industries Inc. 23.1% market share.
Winnebago Industries Inc. 17% market share.
Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. 16.4% market share.

compare to:
2012 breakdown:
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. 36.3% market share.
Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. 19.6% market share.
Thor Industries Inc. 18.2% market share.
Winnebago Industries Inc. at 16.5% market share.

In 2013 Thor gained almost 5% market share, Roadtrek gained 2.4%, Winnebago gained .5% and Pleasure-Way dropped 3.2% (Pleasure-Way now offers two small Class C RV's which would not be included in the Class B stats)

I find it interesting that sales were up 15.9% for the year but shipments http://www.classbforum.com/phpBB2/vi...art=121#p18453 were only up 2.5% - can't say I understand that at all.

2014 should be interesting to watch. Will Winnebago's new low cost Travato have an impact on market share? They also recently introduced a Class B with a slide out. Can Thor maintain the phenomenal growth we've seen over the last few years? What about Roadtrek? They had another great year and continue to lead with a large margin. Will they increase their lead?

[booster]

There must have been a lot of B's in inventory at the beginning of the year for shipments to be that much higher than sales.

[Mike]

Or, the sources and organization of the statistical data is somehow flawed. We've discussed the validity of this stuff before, for various reasons, and I wonder how you determine the accuracy of the information?

From their website (Statistical Surveys Inc.),
"We specialize in continuously gathering and cleansing new retail registration data, and providing clients with up-to-date insights on buyer behavior through a comprehensive suite of market data products and services. We have the expertise to custom-tailor the latest market data solutions to meet your specific needs and help keep you ahead of the competition. "

I had a look at similar data from the RVIA website, and I'm not sure whether it mirrors what we're seeing from SSI.

If anyone else wants to have a look, it's free, but in PDF format.
http://www.rvia.org/?ESID=mdandt
Makes you wonder?

[markopolo]

At one point I thought SSI might be reporting sales to dealers but they indicate that their data comes from "new retail registration data".

RVIA tracks and reports on deliveries of new RVs from manufacturers to dealers.

recap:

2013 SSI Class B sales up 15.9%
2013 RVIA Class B shipments up 2.5%

So I took a look at 2012 & 2011:

2012 SSI Class B sales up 31.4%
2012 RVIA Class B shipments up 11.9%

2011 SSI Class B sales down 15.3%
2011 RVIA Class B shipments up 18.8%

Looks like they're never similar.

This bit of info: "Five of eight U.S. and Canadian Class B builders reported retail sales for the month of December" was included in the December 2010 SSI Retail Sales. That would seem to indicated that the percentages will vary based on the number of companies that submit their monthly reports to SSI.

RVIA shipment data might be the better long term gauge of industry performance. Like SSI, they rely on submitted reports but I have seen where they have adjusted their monthly reports after initial publication to add in a missed manufacturer report.

I don't know for sure though.

Edit: Looks like SSI updates their data later also when new info is received. This was the note on the December 2011 report: “The states of Minnesota, Maine are delayed and the data will be put into the correct months once we receive it. The states of Colorado,Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio and Oklahoma had unusually low volumes last year which resulted in higher percentage this year.”

[Mike]

I think my head just exploded.

[booster]

If the states are reporting it, I wonder how they determine which are B's, with all the different definitions? Reported by model maybe?

[markopolo]

I was wondering the same thing. Thinking back to the Roadtrek I had, I'm fairly certain that it only showed that it was a Chevrolet van classified as a motorhome on the registration. No mention of the brand. I just looked a copy of the registration for the Bigfoot Class C I had and again there is no mention of Bigfoot on the registration. It just says Ford motorhome. Maybe it is different in the US.

I think I'll pay more attention to shipment data than sales data to gauge where the B market is heading.

[Mike]

General RV is a good example of the cross contamination of one "class" of RV versus another. They have sub divided their inventory into all the known classes, but if you try to search/find something by it's generally assumed class, it often doesn't show up. Their bleed from one type to another seems to be in the B, B+, C groupings, usually mixed up by length, ignoring coach types. I'm just thinking the RVIA guys understand the classes and probably reclassify stuff that comes in based on their knowledge of what's what in the industry.

[Davydd]

I don't understand it. The Class B industry is basically a boutique not very popular choice in the overall market of RVs yet everyone wants to be a wanna B in marketing in calling Class Cs of frankly almost all kinds as Bs. I mean, c'mon!, Thor says this is a B.

[Mike]

That's exactly why I keep saying we're looking for something that works for us in size, function, and features, ignoring what someone else might call it. Trying to go by class of RV is getting to be a waste of time. Maybe outfits like Winnebago and Thor and others want the old class lines to blur a bit, to allow them to fudge the numbers a little?
I'm at the point where I don't care what they call it, as long as we like it.

[mlts22]

That sort of makes sense now. I don't see many Interstates, but a B+ Citation likely sells more models. It would be a nice thing to see sales by models, as opposed to arbitrary types that RV makers bend to their liking. Like what is stated on rv.net, "there is no such thing as a B+."

What will be interesting will be small class "A"s on ProMaster or Sprinter chassis, about the size of a Via or shorter (similar to European "fully integrated coach builts" made by Hymer) and how those will fare against "B"s.

[markopolo]

January 2014 Class B Shipment stats have been published on RVIA's site http://www.rvia.org

There was a 48.5% INCREASE in shipments compared to last January!



What a fantastic start for 2014

[booster]

I wonder if that is related with all the new models getting sent to the dealers? Or is this the actual sales data, I forget.

[markopolo]

This is shipments to dealers.

[markopolo]

January 2014 Class B Sales stats have been posted on RV Business: http://www.rvbusiness.com/2014/03/ssi-j ... -4-growth/

Sales are up 21.4%.

Year-over-year Class B motorhome sales climbed 21.4% in January, according to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc.

To recap, here's how 2013 ended:

2013 breakdown:
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. 38.7% market share.
Thor Industries Inc. 23.1% market share.
Winnebago Industries Inc. 17% market share.
Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. 16.4% market share.

Here's how 2014 begins:

January 2014
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc. 37.6% market share.
Thor Industries Inc. 32% market share.
Winnebago Industries Inc. 16% market share.
Pleasure-Way Industries Ltd. 9.6% market share.

The gap between Thor and Roadtrek has gotten much smaller. I don't think any other Class B manufacturer has been that close to Roadtrek's market share position in years.

[Mike]

The drop by PW is almost equal to the entire increase by Thor. Surprising? If the quality of their respective class B products is similar, price per unit may be the difference. Are PW and other low volume producers slowly pricing themselves out?
Does Thor build their class B for export to other countries and continents, I wonder? I can't think of any other reason that so many seem to be built/sold, but so many of our forum members haven't seen them around.

[markopolo]

February 2014 Class B Shipment stats have been published on RVIA's site http://www.rvia.org

There was a 54.5% INCREASE in shipments compared to last February



2014 shipments are up 51.5% for the first two months of the year. What a great start!

[Mike]

They must have been shipping them by dogsled to increase that much in this weather. Just about every time I asked about whether a particular model was available as a demo, I got the "maybe next week, or next month, everything has been held up by the weather" story.
I wonder who has built a new production facility, or who has gotten into the class B game since last year, to see that much of a jump in shipments? That increase is just shipments, not necessarily sales numbers, is that right? Come to think of it, that might just mean an increase in dealer inventory. These numbers are hard to decipher, sometimes they just don't seem to make sense. If it's just more class B product on the lots, they must think they can sell them, I guess.

[Fastpaddler1]

Originally Posted by Mike

The drop by PW is almost equal to the entire increase by Thor. Surprising? If the quality of their respective class B products is similar, price per unit may be the difference. Are PW and other low volume producers slowly pricing themselves out?
Does Thor build their class B for export to other countries and continents, I wonder? I can't think of any other reason that so many seem to be built/sold, but so many of our forum members haven't seen them around.

Yes. I think so. PW and GWV build top quality rigs but prices are brutal here. Same with LTV too if not more so with their slide-out models. I can buy a 2014 Thor Chateau Citation 24SR with 2 slide outs(1 at rear for queen bed) for $109,000 Canadian. At 24ft it is too big for me. But, You wont beat that price here. Not as good quality but good enough. Has MB Sprinter chassis too. That is why the advent of the Ford Transit lwb with good rv conversions will really bring prices down somewhat and provide needed competition. To replace my 06 PW Plateau TS with a 2014 would cost me 125,000 more or less. I'm gonna wait and see what comes on the market.
Al