The RV industry is only a few weeks into its summer selling season, but 2015 shipment totals are already expected to surpass last year. Industry officials are predicting the growth, driven by consumer demand, will continue well into 2016.
RV shipment totals are expected to hit 380,000 by the end of the year, an almost 7 percent increase from 2014, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. Shipment totals are expected to set an industry record in 2016, reaching more than 394,000 — totals that haven't been seen since 2006 when about 390,000 units shipped.
These numbers, which were presented by Mac Bryan, RVIA vice president, Tuesday at the organization's annual Committee Week in Washington, D.C., can only mean good things for northern Indiana, which produces more than 83 percent of all new RVs in the United States.
It's the growth the RV industry has already seen this year that is instilling so much confidence in people. Shipments set new growth records for the first quarter of 2015, increasing about 8 percent from this time last year. RVIA is predicting shipments of motor homes to reach their highest level since 2007, and travel trailer and fifth wheel trailer shipments to reach their highest points ever.
A stabilizing and growing economy is a major factor in the industry's climb back from the recession, but speaking at the RVIA Committee Week, Bryan said it's the "deeply held preference for the RV lifestyle" that has sustained business. And it's the loyal RV consumers combined with the growing market of buyers that officials say will drive shipments to the record-breaking totals expected in 2016.