ELKHART — Recreational vehicle shipments surpassed 374,000 units last year, the highest number since 2006 — before the Great Recession.
RV shipments reached 374,246 total units for 2015, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association announced Friday. That marks the sixth consecutive year that RV shipments rose since the end of the recession.
December 2015 saw a 4.8 percent increase over December 2014 and the largest December total since 2005. Every month except May and July saw improvement over 2014 totals.
“We did better than previously forecasted,” said Bill Baker, director of media relations at RVIA. “We expect that growth to continue into 2016 since the economy has improved and consumer confidence has risen.”
The RV boom is good news for Elkhart County, which employs thousands of workers in the industry at companies like Jayco, Forest River and Thor Industries. The production of RVs accounted for $3.33 billion of Elkhart County’s gross domestic product in 2012, which makes up 29.1 percent of the county’s total, according to the Associated Press.
“The national spotlight was on Elkhart County for awhile with its high unemployment rate,” said Thor Industries CEO Bob Martin. “Now we are seeing companies hiring, production rates are going up, and that affects everyone in the county — from restaurants to suppliers.”
All classes of motorhomes saw improvement in sales over the past year. Class A RVs saw a 0.2 percent increase over 2014, Class B RVs saw a 9.8 percent increase, and Class C saw the biggest increase overall at 15.8 percent.