Winnebago Leads Upsurge in Class B Coach Sales

[rockymtnb]

RV Business magazine has an article about the continuing upsurge in Class B sales growth leading the RV industry for 2018, with Winnebago at the forefront:

https://www.rvbusiness.com/blog/winn...ach-sales.html

No new data here as these results match the SSI totals tracked in this forum's Class B Market Share, Sales and Shipments thread. But a nice interview with Russ Garfin of Winnebago on the growing interest in smaller Class B and Class C units among the overall RV market.

Russ provides some interesting insight into the demographic characteristics of Class B buyers. Pre-retirement and just retired Baby Boomers comprised the largest segment at 58-64 years, compared to late 60's to 70+ for most RV buyers. Then a younger group including women, outdoor families, and singles entering the RV market for the first time.

Of course these 2018 sales figures won't reflect the recent Erwin Hymer / Roadtrek troubles, which are likely to suppress 2019 segment growth. But at least those limitations are on the supply side, whereas Class B demand appears to remain high compared to the rest of the RV industry.

[booster]

I think when the lower priced units started showing up on the Promasters, especially from Winnebago, it brought in a lot of people into the new market that had previously been priced out, especially when the Chevies got to be over $100K MSRP without any special options.