Interest in motorhomes is plummeting, but the worst is yet to come
7 hours ago | Petr Prokopec
Foto: Airstream
To be honest, it was to be expected and it is a surprise that it is only happening now. In short, the world is returning to its old ways and recognizing that despite all the advantages of the second way, “hotel” and “hotel on wheels” are not one and the same.
In the spring of 2020, almost the entire Earth was paralyzed by the coronavirus and the response of individual countries to it. No one was prepared for the arrival of a new infectious disease, so initially there were really drastic interventions in the daily running of the entire planet. Airplanes started to disappear from the sky, then cruise ships from the seas. Not only borders were closed, but also hotels and restaurants. So if someone wanted to go on vacation, they could often only do so in their own cottage or cottage. Interest in them skyrocketed, as did prices.
However, if you have recently looked at the offer of real estate agencies, then you surely know that the current situation is noticeably different. There are plenty of cottages and cottages to be had, often again at prices close to those of pre-pandemic times. With the opening of borders and restaurants, and with the return of ships and planes to the surface and into the air, people resumed their previous habits. So they mostly spend their holidays abroad in air-conditioned hotel rooms.
This state of affairs also has an impact on other sectors that have experienced a meteoric rise in connection with the coronavirus. Because of those restrictions, the sale of motorhomes and trailers has been growing rapidly since 2020, and we have also been paying more attention to them since then than before. However, the results for the first half of this year are not very encouraging. Sales of camper trailers in the United States fell by 53.9 percent year-on-year from 228,740 to 105,975 units. That’s downhill at a rocket pace.
A slightly smaller drop is associated with motorhomes, which are down 17 percent for this year. At the same time, a 34.1 percent drop is associated with the largest, and a 29.1 percent drop with the medium ones. The smallest class C, i.e. those cars that use a standard cabin, but supplemented with a residential superstructure, on the other hand grew, but only by 2.9 percent. With 13,235 units sold, however, it is by far the most numerous, with 5,500 units for Class A and 6,758 units for Class B this year.
When we realize that in the past three years manufacturers have often reported sales growth of several hundred percent, then the outlook for the future is not very optimistic, precisely because of the return of the world to its old ways. It is then a question of how the many start-ups that have sprung up like poppy seeds will turn out. On the other hand, a number of them really offer technological gems for which a few dozen buyers are sure to be found every year. However, their creators should not have thought about more.
The organization RVIA, which aggregates the desired data, states that sales should increase in the second half of this year, but virtually no one believes this anymore. Not only because of the reasons mentioned above, but also due to considerable inflation. In connection with it and the fact that we are in the middle of summer, and therefore after the season, so to speak, other experts suggest that the second half of the year could be an even colder shower.
The camper trailer designed by the Porsche design studio in collaboration with Airstream will probably have no shortage of customers. Otherwise, however, sales of hotels on wheels fell by 53.9 percent year-on-year. Photo: Airstream
Sources: RVIA, RV Travel
Petr Prokopec
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2023-07-29 11:08:02
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