RV shipments were down 20% across the industry this March compared to the same period last year.
The RV Industry Association released its March 2020 survey of manufacturers this week, showing a substantial year-to-year decline in shipments of towable RVs, motorhomes and park model RVs. This March data shows the year’s first drop in monthly RV shipments compared to the same months in 2019.
According to the RVIA, 30,288 total units were shipped during March 2020. That’s nearly 8,000 units less than were shipped in March 2019, or a 20.3% decline in total shipments.
Motorhome shipments dropped nearly 40% this March, with a total of 2,565 motorhome units shipped. In March 2019, manufacturers shipped 4,261 motorhomes in total.
Towable RVs saw a less dramatic decline in shipments than motorhomes, with a 17.9% drop compared to March 2019.
The RVIA report shows that manufacturers shipped 27,723 towable RVs in March 2020, down just under 20% from the 33,754 shipped in March 2019. Travel trailer units top the list for most units shipped during March 2020, with 21,076 units shipped.
Compared to all of 2019, shipments for towable RVs are up 3.5% so far this year. Annual motorhome shipments are down 20.8% compared to the same three-month period last year.
Type B van campers, however, saw a major hike in units shipped this March compared to last year.
In total, manufacturers reported a 121.8% rise in number of Type B units shipped. Among the industry-wide decline in shipments, Type B campers have drastically increased their shipments to 377 total units, compared to 170 shipped in March 2020.
The overall drop in March RV shipments is the first year-to-year decline in monthly RV shipments recorded in 2020.
The RVIA reported an increase of around 700 total RV units shipped in February 2020 compared to February 2019. In January 2020, RV shipments were up by more than 7,000 units compared to the same time last year.
Click here to access the full RVIA March 2020 shipments report.
