When recreational vehicle manufacturers closed plants in March and April because of coronavirus, it appeared the industry was headed for one of its worst years on record. But a month later, plants began operating, and to the surprise of everyone, consumer demand went through the roof.
Sales “are off the chart,” said Robert Zagami, executive director of the New England RV Dealers Association, which represents about 35 dealers in the region. “No one forecasted it; no one predicted it.”
The dramatic increase in demand appears to be a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Orders requiring social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus and the closure of many favorite vacations areas forced people to search for alternatives. As the number of coronavirus cases increase, many people simply do not want to risk a cruise, plane ride or trip to an amusement park, Zagami said. “They don’t want to be in that environment.”
Recreational vehicles, Zagami said, provide the ideal vacation setting where travel is safe, the outdoors are accessible and social distancing in campgrounds or RV parks is a given with sites 20 feet or more apart.
What is surprising to those who study trends in the recreational vehicle market are the number of new buyers.
Zagami said his members report half of their new sales are to first-time buyers, people who have never gone camping before.
Ray Panzino, general sales manager of Cold Springs RV in Weare, said his sales data backs up what Zagami said.
“In the last three months, we have sold to more first-time buyers than we did in the last five years combined,” Panzino said.
At Airstream of Nashua, sales consultant and store manager John Terescik said inventory has been cleaned out. March was somewhat normal as people got ready for the season, but by mid-April the “floodgates opened,” he said.
“People were buying from us around the country, wire-transferring money. We sold more in six weeks than what we usually sell in three months,” Terescik said. He added that, nationwide, May 2020 was Airstream’s biggest month in sales since its founding in 1931.
At Cold Springs RV, Panzino said they nearly doubled their sales from May and June last year.
“It has been off-the-wall crazy,” Panzino said. “We are running out of inventory. Last May, we sold 50 and in June, 60.
This year we sold 100 in each month.”
The cost of an RV ranges from as little as $6,000 for a pop-up trailer to $500,000 or more for a motorhome. Some 70% to 80% are “towables,” including travel trailers and fifth wheels.
The pandemic caused the demand for RVs to skyrocket, but Zagami does not believe sales will slide when the threat of the virus ends.
— PATRICK O’GRADY/GRANITE STATE NEWS COLLABORATIVE
