Frankly, I don't know how any RV dealer will stay in business. Winnebago came out with their financial report a week or 2 ago, and their profits were down 73%. Seems to me that the dealerships are in at least as much trouble.
I would think that the only buyers not impacted by the current fuel prices would be those with big enough bucks where spending $1K to fill up a large Class A would not be a concern. Those are few and far between and probably buying directly from the manufacturer like Newell Coach.
When I had the stolen power cable replaced at the Lance Dealer, I asked how the business was doing in light of the economy and rising fuel prices.
Sales of trailers and campers have fallen off and repairs are declining as well.
Just returned from a 1600+ mile round trip to Glacier National Park.
Lance were the most popular camper we saw on the trip.
Bill
I was just down at a local cargo trailer manufacturer. They make flatbeds, car haulers, enclosed cargo trailers, small utility trailers, etc. The place was empty of workers, only one guy there (presumably the owner or owner's son). There were no trailers being made, saws and welding machines all siting there clean and cables put up nice. He had a lot full of finished trailers of all types and said he is barely selling any. His prices are very good too, he is usually one of the best deals in north county. He said the last few customers were people moving out of the state and bought trailers to make their move, with plans to sell the trailers once they got there. Hope he makes it, he's been there for quite a few years.
I was serious about doing home brew diesel in Colorado Springs. Seems that every place I went, EVERY place, was already being paid for their oil. If I can't source oil in a big city, dam. Fuel prices are a killer. I did 2500 miles this month to Ar and back to Co. It was an expensive trip. This week was a 450 mile trip to the mountains with a 4,500 foot climb. Managed 14.9 mpg though. Still cost over $160 to fill the tank for a weekend trip.
Weekend getaways just got too expensive to do with any frequency. RV's need to be used frequently to get any advantage out of them. It is not hard to understand why things have turned sour for the industry.
BIG RV dealers have more tied up in inventory, so they have more to lose.
Unfortunately slow turnover of product got to be accepted by the industry, and trimming the fat out happened way too late when things happened so dramatically with fuel costs.
I can only hope that cost of fuel stabilizes & gets more in line with pay scale so it can be more affordable to travel. But pay never shoots up in the same fashion that fuel costs have lately. It has put a bite in just about every industry and business. If fuel speculation (its not really equal to supply & demand) continues in this way, things will only get worse and put the entire GLOBAL economy in a major downhill spiral.
Small businesses go broke or downsize, people lose jobs, etc. etc. all because of greed over a resource that has relatively inelastic demand.
People say that there is increased demand in foreign countries for fuel, but if they are facing the same dramatic price increases, their demand, just like ours will be shrinking. They are not so much better off that they can absorb the costs, they are in the same boat.
Really tends to bring back some of the same issues the world had before the great depression. There were people then making a killing abusing the system just before the collapse came. I hope history isn't repeating itself.
Dave & Sue,
DINKS and dedicated to having fun as much as possible.
05 GMC LT crewcab dually
07 Northern Lite 10.2 CD SE, highly optioned version...
A lot comes on a SE.
I had lots of 5th wheel dudes come over to our campsite in SD to look at our camper thinking they would probably save fuel. Once they found out that I get about 12 mpg they didn't think that was much different than what they were getting. Of course I told them that I keep the pedal down cuz time is more valuable than cash to me. Plus the wife is pregnant so i have to get as many miles in as a I can before she needs to use the pisser.
Our week long trip to SD cost us $700 in fuel but lots of that was for the boat since we were making 60 mile round trip runs up to Akaska. $5.11/gallon for diesel is the most we paid at Bob's Resort outside Gettysburg.
2002 Ford F-350 CC LB PSD
2007 Travel Lite 960rx Ultra
1998 Starcraft Superfisherman 170
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