Winnebago Industries President and CEO Michael Happe said the manufacturer does not believe its towable aging inventory is a major problem, although towable dealer orders remain lower than the past two years as 2022 nears an end.
Happe told investors on a conference call discussing the company’s first-quarter fiscal report that dealers and OEMs would see “little harm” in towable field inventory reducing over the next three to four months.
“I would not say that, at this particular time, the aging inventory in our towable segment is a major problem,” Happe said. “From a towables RV standpoint, we have not seen a meaningful difference in probably order taking here in the last 60 days. It remains lower than certainly the last couple of years at this time, which would be expected.”
Winnebago executives are looking at affordability when pricing current RVs, Happe said, eyeing inflation’s effect on consumer purchases.
“We certainly are thinking a lot about the affordability of the lifestyle today,” he said. “My first message would be that the RV lifestyle still compares economically favorably to other forms of travel particularly for singular trips or longer journeys. The affordability is something we are watching both in terms of the retail prices that are in the market and now the higher interest rates from a consumer financing side that are in the market today for consumers to take out a loan to acquire those products.”
Happe also addressed Mercedes-Benz’s fall recall of its Sprinter Type B vans from model years 2019-2022 because of parking brake issues. Mercedes issued the recall Oct. 21, affecting nearly 125,000 vehicles.
“It took us a little while around a week or so to understand even from Mercedes exactly what the issue was and what the implications were to our business and a potential timeframe for resolution,” Happe said. “The estimate that we provided (today projected resolution) to be sometime in calendar Q1 of 2023, but you notice, I am not saying whether that will be January or whether that will be March.”
Long-term, Happe said Winnebago does not consider the recall as a system issue. Winnebago’s biggest concern, he said, was retail being frozen or lost during the recall resolution.
“Whether that comes back to have a material impact on the total number of wholesale shipments that OEMs like ourselves can ultimately deliver to the market (is something to watch),” Happe said.
Finally, Happe said the manufacturer last month signed a lease for its ATG Innovation Center. The facility will house Winnebago’s Advanced Technology Group’s research and development teams. Work will focus on new technology applications, the company said, including alternative energy management and autonomy.
