In announcing third-quarter financial results, LKQ Corp. President and CEO Nick Zarcone said retail RV sales will be a better sales indicator for LKQ and its subsidiary, NTP-Stag, to follow than wholesale RV shipments.
As new RV sales have fallen, Zarcone said it should not be surprising that RV accessories and product sales such as hitches and towing equipment have been softer than usual.
“We believe that retail sales of RV units is probably a better leading indicator for the potential demand for our RV accessories than wholesale shipments from the OEs to the dealers,” Zarcone said, “because unsold units sitting on a dealer lot does not do anything to generate demand for the types of parts that we sell. With interest rates going higher, and the financial health of the consumers eroding … we do not see a near-term catalyst for a quick rebound in the RV marketplace.”
Zarcone said RV OEM warranty products’ sales were up 3% during the company’s third quarter from the third quarter of 2022. RV accessories and towing-related products were down more than 10% from the third quarter of 2022.
“The RV portion of our Specialty business was impacted by the wholesale shipment and retail unit sales of RVs, which were down 45% and 17% year-to-date through August, respectively,” Zarcone said. “Though still down, the Specialty revenue decline in the third quarter was less significant than in the first half of the year.”
