Even when fuel prices rise, RV trips remain the least expensive type of vacation, according to a new study comparing vacation costs.

PKF Consulting, an internationally recognized consulting firm with expertise in travel and tourism, found that “typical RV family vacations are on average 26 to 74 percent less expensive than other types of vacations studied.”

 

Even factoring in RV ownership and fuel costs, the study reveals that RV vacations are more economical than those taken by personal car, commercial airline or cruise ship.

 

PKF analyzed major costs that would be incurred by families taking nine different types of vacation to such popular travel destinations as the Grand Canyon; Orlando, Fla.; Cape Cod; Napa, Calif.; and Alaska. PKF selected three types of RVs typically used by families for vacation purposes – a folding camping trailer, conventional travel trailer and Type C motorhome.

“In all cases, RV trips were more economical than other vacations analyzed, regardless of trip duration, distance or region of the country,” says Kannan Sankaran, PKF’s lead researcher for the study.

 

“Even when fuels prices rise, our data show that each RV vacation would still be significantly less expensive,” Sankaran explained. “While fuel costs are a component of the overall vacation cost, fluctuations in fuel prices aren’t significant enough to affect a family’s decision of whether or not to take RV trips over other types of vacations.” According to the study, fuel prices would need to triple to make RVing more expensive for a family of four than other forms of travel.

 

Vacations using a personal car, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants – the least expensive of the non-RV travel options – were found to be 36 percent more costly on average than going by RV.

The study showed, for example, that a family of four traveling from Washington, D.C. to Dennis Port, Mass. for 10 days with their folding camping trailer in tow, staying in campgrounds for the local average of $25 per night, would save 54 percent, or $1,696, over the same trip taken by car, staying in hotels, averaging $120 per night and eating in restaurants. Taking the same vacation by motorhome would save $974, or 34 percent, over going by car.

 

On a trip from Atlanta to Orlando for a week, a family of four would save $1,658, or 53 percent, by traveling in their motorhome and staying in campgrounds averaging $27 per night, rather than flying, renting a car, staying in hotels averaging $125 per night and eating in restaurants.

Shorter getaways were also found to be more economical by RV. For example, a family taking a three-day vacation from Pittsburgh, Pa. to Lancaster, Pa. would save $271 - or 31 percent – by towing a conventional travel trailer, rather than going by car, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants. The savings would be even greater - $1,049 - or 62.2 percent – for families taking the same trip by motorhome rather than flying.

According to PKF, renting an RV is the most affordable way to tour Alaska. The study shows that 14-day RV rentals were less than half the cost of Alaskan all-inclusive cruises, including roundtrip air fare and 69 percent less expensive than trips involving air fares, car rentals, hotels and restaurants.

Vacation Type Trip Duration: 7 Days

Car towing a Folding Camping/Trailer/Campgrounds $1,125

Light Duty Truck or SUV towing a Travel Trailer/Campgrounds $1,376

Motorhome/Campgrounds $1,491

Personal Car/Hotel or Motel $2,182

Personal Car or Airplane/Rental Property $2,725

Airplane or Rental Car/Hotel or Motel $3,044

Cruise Ship Vacation $9,399

All-Inclusive Package Vacation $5,156

Information provided by RVIA

 

 

Keystone’s Springdale brand is one of the best selling and most recognized RVs in North America. 

Springdale offers over 50 different floorplans to satisfy virtually every camping family.  Not only that, you’ll find a Springdale dealer almost every place you go in the USA (that’s a good thing).  Diversity of product, tremendous distribution,  plus more features and great value all add up to one of the best selling RVs of all time.

 

First prize in the Keystone-KOA Kamping In Style Giveway sweepstakes is the 266RL-SSR, one of Springdale’s most popular floorplans.

 

This family-oriented trailer features a huge rear living room with panoramic window, twin recliner chairs, full-with sofa and super-sized dinette. All these features add up to increased comfort in the Springdale and a trailer you will enjoy for many seasons to come.  

SSR Delivers More, Adding increased livability to the Springdale is the SSR design.  SSR stands for “Super Slide Room”. 

This is a Springdale innovation borne from listening to campers and down to earth, practical thinking.  More room to stretch out and relax, flexible dinette seating…these are some of the benefits of the SSR.

 

March 2, 2011 by RV Business

RV shipments from manufacturers to dealers rose to 17,800 in January, up a healthy 12.7% from the January 2010 total of 15,800 in the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s (RVIA) latest survey of RV manufacturers tracking wholesale shipments.

Both motorhome and towable categories showed increases from their January totals last year. Manufacturers reported 2,000 motorhomes being shipped to dealers in January 2011, up 33.3% from the 1,500 shipments reported in 2010. Shipments of towables reached 15,800, a 10.5% increase from the 14,300 shipped in January 2010.

By segment shipments were as follows with comparisons to January 2010:

 

Dutchmen Manufacturing Inc., Goshen, Ind., introduced the all-new Voltage high-end fifth-wheel SURV during the Tulsa Boat, Sport and Travel Show Aug. 27-29 in Tulsa, Okla. ”We wanted to build a toy hauler that is different than anything on the market; we wanted to cut a different path,” said Nate Goldenberg, Dutchmen’s Voltage and Denali product manager. ”We tried to pay attention to the essentials that traditional RVs have.” Available in four 35- to 43-foot widebody floorplans with two or three 7 1/2-foot-tall electric slideouts, the fiberglass-and-aluminum Voltage features pass-through storage with slam-latch doors. The upscale toy hauler also is equipped with residential-style amenities such as walk-in closets, large microwaves, four-door refrigerators, floor-to-ceiling pantries and stainless steel sinks. While the front bedroom houses 6-foot 5-inch ceilings, the 14-foot-deep garage sports 30- and 20-gallon fuel tanks. With an exterior entertainment center equipped with a 26-inch LCD TV and stereo with speakers, the Voltage base MSRP ranges from $58,000 to $76,000. The first Voltage was sold to Wade’s RV Clinic, Sapulpa, Okla. Meanwhile, a travel trailer version of the SURV to be called the Rubicon will debut in November at the 48th Annual National RV Trade Show in Louisville, Ky.

                                                                                                    Wallup! in place.

An inventor turned entrepreneur found a way to place a 12-foot framed flexible wall in a small bag and in 2 minutes erect it into a privacy barrier, windbreak, shower stall, changing room, tent, bathroom or anything else the mind can conjure up. The Wallup! or “Wall-in-a-bag” is being used by RVers, campers, hunters, golfers, sports teams, advertisers and even equestrians as horse stalls and outdoor tack rooms, according to a news release. In just a few minutes it assembles into a 6-foot-high by 12-foot-wide freestanding wall. The Wallup! won’t fall over in winds in excess of 15 mph and when it’s time to pack up the Wallup! collapses back into its tote bag. The Wallup! uses  heavy duty poles and solid steel stakes. The Wallup! can be found in Camping World stores or online at

 

http://www.thewallup.com, http://www.facebook.com/campingwall and even on YouTube to see the product in action. 

Positive Mood Bathes National RV Trade Show

December 2, 2010

 

Positive is the word that best describes the mood at the 48th Annual acNational RV Trade Show in Louisville, Ky.

More than 300 manufacturers, suppliers and support companies have gathered here for the annual exchange of commerce. Deals are made, sales goals are either met or lowered and new business relationships are formed. In a nutshell, this is where the RV industry’s heartbeat is, The Goshen (Ind.) News reported.

After a depressing, recession-wracked show in 2008 and a so-so show last year, dealers and manufacturers are all positive this year as sales and interest in RVs are rebounding.

“So far it is going very well. I have seen some interesting new products,” said Scott Vande Kieft, a dealer for Wholesale Trailer Sales in Lynden, Wash.

 

He said his customers “are very cautious,” but he sells the fun that RVs bring to a family

“Even in a down economy, it is still very dificult to take away their vacation time,” he said. “They still like to have their fun.”

Vande Kieft was studying the floorplans offered for a Keystone RV Co. trailer made in Goshen. A few feet away Bob Martin, president of the company, was greeting dealers.

“It has been going very well, very busy. The traffic has been strong,” Martin said. At the time most all the Keystone sales staff were paired up with potential buyers.

 

Martin said the increase in dealer interest, coupled with an increase in financing available to dealers, is encouraging.

“All these signs are great indicators of better days to come,” Martin said.

RV sales are 43% higher nationwide, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), which is hosting the show. That sales increase has eased the unemployment rate in Elkhart County, which jumped to about 17% percent during the recession. Martin said that in the past year Keystone RV has hired back about 1,000 workers.

 

“We are gearing up for a great year (2011),” Martin said.

Keystone is a big player in the towables market, and at the show the company has 50 units on display over 35,000 square feet of floorspace. The staff at the show numbers about 80.

Keystone’s Montana fifth-wheel, which is made in Goshen, has been the No. 1 selling fifth-wheel for 10 years running.

 

“Orders received have ben very strong for the Montana line,” Martin said. A few changes have been made in Keystones lineup, both in architecture and interiors. “Dealers always want to see some changes because that gives customers a reason to buy,” Martin said.

Keystone is investing $2 million in a new building at its Goshen complex to manufacture its Laredo line. That factory should be finished in February, Martin said.

Altogether, Keystone has 3,000 employees (2,700 in Goshen) and 16 production facilities.

 

Just down the aisle from Keystone’s massive display was Riverside RV’s display. The small company had four trailers on display and one pickup camper. Angled to get the corner view of passing dealers was the company’s new White River Retro trailer. And it was drawing in most every dealer who passed by.

The Retro is designed to look like a 1960s towable. The interior has a bed, a convertible dinnette, a stove, sink and portable toilet hidden in a cabinet.

 

“We are very happy with it. Very happy,” said Bob Taulbee, a Riverside salesman.

And the show is going well for the LaGrange, Ind., company.

“Because of the Retro, it has been busier than in the past. The Retro is drawing a lot of people over here,” he said.

The Retro was introduced at the show. It weighs 1,700 pounds and is 14.5 feet long and because of its lightness, can be pulled by smaller cars and sport utility vehicles.

“I got the feedback from the dealers as what they wanted and our people put it together,” Taulbee said. “The bulk of what we do comes from dealer feedback.”

 

Another LaGrange County company, KZ RV LLP, was also offering new products. Andy Baer, vice president of sales and marketing, was busy showing off the new, elaborate outside kitchen offered on the Stoneridge fifth-wheel. The stainless steel kitchen features an infrared grill, work area and sink, all covered with an awning in case it rains during tailgating.

KZ also was offering a new lightweight trailer, the Spree Escape. It weighs 2,200 pounds and is designed to be towed by smaller vehicles, according to Baer.

 

Baer said KZ has had a good year and he is expecting the trend to continue. “The outlook is very positive,” Baer said.

Part of maintaining good sales is staying in touch with consumer trends. And Baer, like other sales people at the show, knows consumers are doing more research on products before they spend money.

“You don’t have to buy the cheapest necessarily, but you want to do your homework and get value for your dollar,” he said.

Taking a break near the KZ booth to study his map of the massive exhibit area, Steven Minghenelli of Sewell, N.J., was looking for diesel RV manufacturers.

 

“It’s a great show, very informative and there is a lot of product being displayed here. And it seems like it is busy,” Minghenelli said. As for his dealership’s businesss, Minghenelli said sales are improving.

“We are a diesel dealer and there is a lot of diesel displayed here, which is great for us,” he said. “And the diesel market is coming back strong, which is great for us.”

 

Dustin Tavernier

October 19, 2010

Dustin Tavernier

Keystone RV Co. announced today (Oct. 19) the promotion of Dustin Tavernier as product manager for the Springdale, Summerland and Residence line of travel trailers and fifth-wheels.

An eight-year Keystone veteran, Tavernier most recently led the Bullet-Premier team and played an instrumental role in the ultralite brand’s rapid rise in sales, according to a news release. In his new capacity as Springdale product manager, Tavernier will be taking charge of one of Keystone’s most recognized family camper brands as well as the number two retailing trailer in North America.

According to group general manager Matt Zimmerman, Tavernier brings to Springdale an intuitive feel for RV product development combined with a hands on understanding of customer needs and wants. Says Zimmerman, “As a Springdale district sales manager for six years, Dustin knows the customer and the dealers well. He is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about this segment of the market. We look forward to Dustin leading the Springdale, Summerland and Residence brands to new success.”

 

Mackie and Gail Daniels of Fitzgerald, Georgia, are the winners of a new Springdale travel trailer in the Keystone Live Your Dreams US national RV promotion. The Daniels’ name was chosen at random from over 50,000 entries. The Springdale is the first of four grand prizes Keystone will award during the year long Live Your Dreams promotion.

Mackie Daniels, a retired telecommunications worker, initially took the news of winning the Springdale travel trailer with disbelief. Says Mackie, “When my wife received the phone call from Keystone informing us that we had won, we were skeptical. Must be a practical joke, I thought. What are the odds? But when I returned the call to Keystone and spoke with the people there, I realized this is real. What a surprise! This is the first time I have every won anything and this is really big!”

 

The Daniels, who ironically own a 2002 Springdale travel trailer, are avid campers that love to take their grandchildren along with them. According to Mackie, “We camp almost every other week. This new model has more space and conveniences than our 2002 and we are sure going to enjoy the additional features.”

 

Ron Fenech, Keystone RV Company president and CEO, knows the Live Your Dreams promotion is generating positive publicity nationwide for the Company. “Literally tens of thousands of interested consumers have visited the Keystone web site due to the exposure this sweepstakes has generated,” says Fenech. “These visitors learn more about Keystone travel trailers and fifth wheels, and, many times, contact our dealers for further follow up.

 

The Live Your Dreams promotion is a win for the consumer, a win for our dealers, and a win for Keystone RV and our employees.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 12, 2010

Wednesday (Aug. 12) was another hot and humid day. In fact, it felt like 100 degrees. And for those who have to work in the heat, it can be unbearable — and dangerous, WSBT-TV, South Bend, Indiana, reported.

Plant workers at Keystone RV Co. in Goshen didn’t have to go to work. It was just too hot. The company sent employees home early Tuesday when the heat became unbearable, and decided not to bring them back Wednesday.

 

It is a safety measure for employees who work hard in a building that on a hot day could see temperatures in the triple digits.

Just after noon on Wednesday it was 89 degrees in Goshen, but inside the plant at Keystone RV, ”It feels kind of like a sauna. Real hot and humid,” says Jason Crow.

 

Crow works at Keystone RV. He was one of a handful of workers who punched in to unload freight. Other than that, the plant — which is normally busy with more than 250 workers — was empty.

“We made the call last evening about 4:30 that we weren’t even going to bring them in today,” said Tim Edwards, the human resources manager.

Edwards says without air conditioning in their plants, when the heat index rises into the 90s, Keystone executives have to consider employee safety.

“This is very physically demanding work,” Edwards said. “They are moving at a fast rate of speed trying to get the units out and it gets really warm. It is really easy to overheat when you are not paying attention.”

After only a few minutes inside the plant Wednesday morning, a thermometer read 88 degrees. And that was in an empty plant. Imagine more than 250 people in the same building, all doing physical labour. And many of the employees work inside the RVs, which get even hotter.

“If it is 85 in the plant, it could get up to 90 to 95 in the unit,” Edwards said.

 

Company officials say when making a decision about heat, they go day-by-day and generally send employees home when the heat index is between 95 and 105 degrees.

Edwards also says they do their best to educate the supervisors and employees about what to watch for, and they provide them with cold water and Gatorade everyday.

Also, there are air conditioned break rooms and offices available for people that need a break.

 

June 14, 2010

Nick Eppert (with hands aloft), product manager for the Springdale line at Keystone RV Co., leads a tour of campground officials through the Springdale plant last week.

 

Keystone RV Co., already the leading builder of travel trailers and fifth-wheels in terms of U.S. market share, is looking to significantly increase its industry role this year, Keystone President Bob Martin told an audience of campground sector representatives gathered for the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC) Business Forum at the Thor Industries Inc. division’s home plant in Goshen, Indiana, on June 8.

 

In fact, Martin, who assumed the helm at Keystone earlier this year, told the campground industry panel that his company is aiming to raise its market share, now around 25%, to between 28% and 30% by year’s end. But Keystone needs a strong summer of retail sales to reach those goals, said Martin, whose company is a preferred ARVC builder and, as such, offers special discounts to members of the Colorado-based trade association on selected lines. “But all the signs are there,” he said. “Lenders are making loans again.”

 

In his remarks, Martin said the company, the largest of eight Thor divisions, has rebounded considerably since its low point a year ago and has ramped up production to meet growing demand. It’s 3,000 employees at 18 plants are currently building 250 units daily across its 20-plus models. Keystone’s management expects to produce 45,000 RVs this year at its plants in Indiana and Oregon and in mid-June is 11,000 units ahead of its 2009 production rates. He said consumers “are backing off” of motorhomes and turning to trailers, with the “meat of the market” being 27- to 32-foot travel trailers.”

 

Keystone, which distributes its towable RVs through 900 U.S. and Canadian dealers, recently broke ground on its Goshen campus for a new 64,000-square-foot plant, and Martin said Keystone could use yet another plant to meet demand. The Keystone business model allows each product brand its own factory and sales team. Rather than add new brands, brands are “extended,” Martin said.

“We are very sensitive to cloning,” he said. “We don’t do that. We fight to keep things separate.”

 

In a separate presentation, Nick Eppert, product manager for Keystone’s Springdale travel trailers and fifth-wheels, explained to the forum how the company came to design and build its Fireside travel trailer based on input from ARVC members. Built exclusively for ARVC members for the campground rental market, the Fireside features residential-size refrigerators, hardwood cabinet doors, porcelain toilets, 30-pound propane tanks and does not contain carpeting. The units come in two 29- and-37-foot floorplans, each sleeping up to 10 people.

 

Keystone also markets the Residence, a 396-square-foot destination travel trailer for campgrounds, to the campground sector.

Shane Ott, director of campground relations for Thor, arranged last week’s forum meetings to be held at Keystone, which he dubbed “the mother ship of the RV industry.”

 

August 19, 2010

Are U.S. Pickup truck buyers prepared to set aside their love affair with V-8 engines and climb into more fuel- efficient models instead?

 

Time will tell because Ford Motor Co., in a high-stakes move, is promoting a high-tech, 6-cylinder engine in its  best selling F-Series pickups.

 

Ford this fall will introduce a 300-h.p. V-6 and a new six-speed transmission in its F-150 pickups , the No. 1 seller in a market in which eight cylinders still rule, The Wall Street Journal reports. And for the first time, Ford will offer a V-6 in its popular crew cab model, which accounts for 60% of all F-150 sales.

 

While Ford in the past has offered V-6 engines only in its most basic, two-door F-150’s, the automaker plans to start marketing F-150s with a 3.5 liter “Ecoboost” V-6 — potent enough to tow a 11,300 pound trailer — that gets up to 20% better fuel economy than a V-8 with comparable power, F-150 Marketing Manager Mark Grueber told The Journal.

 

Behind the move is an attempt by Ford to hedge the risk that its highly profitable vehicle line could get battered by another run-up in gasoline prices, and it also must meet federal fuel economy rules that will steadily ratchet up the minimum mileage required by all vehicles.

Ford in 2009 sold more than 500,000 F-Series trucks — the best selling U.S. model line for 28 years — and sales were up nearly 35% through the end of July.

 

March 3, 2010

A 2010 Ford Super Duty pickup truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer.

So, you thought brawny pickup trucks were dead?

 

Ford Motor Co., which has been leading the automotive industry’s turnaround of late, will begin a heavy-duty advertising campaign next month for its redesigned 2011 Super Duty pickup truck, according to Automotive News.

 

Ford’s campaign – which encompasses three national TV spots, national print ads, owner mailings and digital ads – will tout the vehicle’s capability and fuel economy as the best in the heavy-duty truck segment, says Brian Rathsburg, Super Duty marketing manager.

“It’s modeled after the F-150 campaign but dialed up a bit in terms of its ‘Built Ford Tough,’” Rathsburg says. “We used Denis Leary as the voiceover, and he has that irreverent, tongue-in-cheek tone.”

The actor has been used for the voiceover in F-150 commercials since the redesigned pickup debuted in the fall of 2008.

 

The Super Duty goes on sale next month. It will offer Ford’s new 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 turbocharged diesel that makes 390 hp and 735 foot-pounds of torque, according to Ford. That’s a 40-hp and 85-foot-pounds improvement over the 2010 diesel model, which has a 6.4-liter engine supplied by International.

 

Ford also will offer a 6.2-liter V-8 gasoline engine with 385 hp and 405 foot-pounds of torque – 85 hp and 40 foot-pounds more than the current 5.4-liter V-8 gasoline engine.

 

Ford is not releasing fuel economy estimates. Rathsburg says the 2011 Super Duty will average 18% better fuel economy on the pickups and up to 25% better on the chassis cabs compared with current models.

The base price of the 2011 Super Duty will be US$28,995, including shipping, Rathsburg says. That’s a $600 increase over a similarly equipped 2010 Super Duty, he says. The diesel will be US$36,830 with shipping.

 

January 27, 2010

2010 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

In a signal to the U.S. marketplace that the sun has not completely set on the modern full-size pickup truck, General Motors Co. has freed up cash to fund a major update of its full-size pickups on a bet that consumers and businesses will resume buying trucks after a long lull in sales, The Wall Street Journal reports.

 

Chairman and CEO Edward E. Whitacre Jr. has agreed to fund the move, reports Tom Stephens, vice chairman of global product operations. The remodeling could cost the company close to $1 billion and should be generally available in the 2012 or 2013 model year.

GM, which once had relied on full-size pickups such as the Chevrolet Silverado for a major portion of its U.S. revenue and operating profit, had put off redesigning the trucks as its finances collapsed and it underwent a government-backed bankruptcy reorganization last year. Truck sales sagged in the past two years after gasoline spiked to $4 a gallon in 2008 and home sales — a big driver of truck purchases by contractors and builders — collapsed amid the recession.

 

Now, unlike the 1990s truck boom, the company plans to go in two directions at once by revitalizing its pickup line at the same time it invests heavily in small, fuel-efficient cars and a tiny electric Chevrolet Volt due later this year.

 

Redesigns of GM’s chief light truck competitors, Ford’s F-150 and Dodge’s Ram, were launched in late 2008 with some features that GM’s Sierra and Silverado — last updated in late 2006 — currently lack.

Stephens said Whitacre approved a top-to-bottom exterior redesign and engineering overhaul to make the vehicles guzzle less gas without giving up capabilties such as cargo capacity.

 

The makeover is more extensive than what GM had planned heading into bankruptcy and will be one of the company’s biggest upcoming redesign efforts. Full-size trucks “have been and will continue to be important to us,” Stephens told The Wall Street Journal, noting that while some personal use buyers won’t return to the market, demand among contractors and small businesses will remain solid.

 

June 3, 2010

The Laredo travel trailer, one of the vehicles that will be built in Keystone RV's new factory in Goshen, Indiana.

 

Keystone RV Co. will build a new 64,000-square-foot factory on 10 acres of empty land adjacent to its Goshen, Indiana, campus to assemble the Laredo travel trailer and fifth-wheel lines along with the Outback Sydney-edition fifth-wheel.

 

The new facility, for which the northern Indiana company will break ground later this month, is expected to be completed in January and will employ 100 to 150 workers.

 

The Thor Industries Inc. subsidiary currently manufactures the Laredo and Outback Sydney-edition lines in some of the other 16 plants that the company operates in Goshen and Pendleton, Ore. Keystone President Bob Martin provided details of the expansion during an employee luncheon today (June 3) in Goshen.

 

During the last year, Keystone has hired about 1,000 workers and now employs just over 3,000 people. That’s close to the work force the all-towable manufacturer employed before the recession. Hiring for the new plant will begin in January, he said.

 

Although retail sales through March have been relatively flat throughout the industry compared to 2009, Martin said an internal sales barometer showed Keystone retail sales up 20% in May compared to the May 2009.

”Dealers are restocking their shelves,” Martin said. ”Many had very strong spring retail shows.”

 

Martin noted that it was June 2009 when the RV industry started to recover from the recessionary woes that plagued manufacturers, dealers and suppliers.

”It wasn’t until late June and July that there were signs that the RV industry was coming back,” Martin said.

 

July 26, 2010

Deliveries to retailers of all RVs climbed to their highest level in more than two years as June shipments reached 27,000  units, 10% greater than May and 72.6% greater than June last year, the Recreation Vehicle Industry  Association (RVIA)  reported today (July 26).

 

This marked the 10th consecutive month where shipments were greater than the same month one year earlier, and the June totals presented an annualized rate of more than 285,000 units, RVIA noted.

Towable RV shipments increased 67.3% over June last year as travel trailers improved 65.3%, while fifth-wheel trailers nearly doubled. Conventional Class A motorhomes tripled in June helping to raise all motorhome totals to 2,500 units in the month and raised year-to-date totals to 13,500 units, which is slightly better than all of 2009.

All categories rose in June over June 2009 and are well ahead of the 2009 pace.

 

In particular:

In the motorized sector:

For year-to-date:

Year-to-date, towable shipments are up 82.6%, motorized shipments are up 141.1% and towable and motorized combined are up 87.1%.

 

June 2, 2010

Richard Liberty (left), winner of the new Montana fifth-wheel from Keystone RV Colorado, shakes hands with Mike Phillips, sales manager for Curtis Trailer Sales, Portland, Oregon.

Richard Liberty of Portland, Ore., took delivery of his new Keystone Montana  fifth-wheel as the grand prize winner in the Keystone “Live Your Dreams National Sweepstakes.”

 

“What a beautiful RV,” Liberty said. “It is everything I could want in a fifth-wheel. It’s a dream come true. I plan on getting it out on the road this weekend. Thank you so much,  Keystone RV, and everyone connected with the ‘Live Your Dreams RV Giveaway,’”

Liberty is also planning a two-week fishing trip with friends to eastern Oregon later this summer.

 

Keystone RV Co. is continuing its “Live Your Dreams Sweepstakes,” promoted through the websites, publications and retail shows of Ventura, Calif.-based Affinity Group Inc., through February 2011 with three additional Keystone RVs to be given away. Prizes include a Keystone Passport Ultra Lite, Keystone Sprinter travel trailer and a Keystone Montana Mountaineer fifth-wheel.

 

August 10, 2010

Some 800,000 people are expected to attend the 70th edition of the weeklong annual Sturgis Bike Rally in Sturgis, S.D., a high profile national event that kicked off Monday (Aug. 9). And Forest River Inc. representatives are in the thick of it — showcasing some of the Elkhart, Ind.-based towable and motorized RVs.

 

”We have been so busy with customers (in Sturgis) that it was a chore to even get the display set up,” said Curt Smith, general manager of Forest River’s Work and Plan toy hauler division.

Smith set up shop on Sturgis’ downtown Main Street along with representatives from Forest River’s Puma and Cherokee towable and Coachmen motorized divisions. ”We are right in the heart of it all,” Smith said.

The crowd of motorcyclists totally overwhelms the city of Sturgis, which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has a total of 5,950 year-round residents and is expected to almost equal South Dakota’s total population of just over 813,000.

 

”It’s like doubling the population of the state for a week,” said Smith.

Before Bike Week even started, Smith told RVBUSINESS.com, Forest River representatives had sold a dozen units in the days leading up to the event. ”The checks are in the pocket and there are seven or eight pending,” he said. Last year, Forest River sold 38 units during Bike Week.

The rally began in 1938 as an event sponsored by the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club as a venue for racing and stunts and has continued ever since with a two-year interruption during World War II.

Bike Week has continued to grow, and this year more than 200,000 people showed up even before the event started.

 

Top line entertainment this year is being provided by Bob Dylan, Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue and ZZ Top, while as many as 700 vendors have set up shop in the Black Hills community.

The entertainment lineup ”is the biggest and best so far,” Rod Woodruff, owner of Buffalo Chip Campground, which has hosted concerts for 29 years, told the Associated Press.

 

”Anybody who has anything at all to do with motorcycles thinks this is the place,” said Christine Paige Dires, executive director of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame.

Sturgis aside, Smith says that Work and Play sales ”are very much up from last year.”

 

”Everybody is very pleased with what’s going on for the year, but people are still very cautious,” he said, adding that Work and Play’s most serious problem right now is finding qualified employees to build RVs. ”That’s the part that’s weird,” he said. ”We are having trouble finding good employees. I think the government has made unemployment too appealing. Right now, people are making darn good money just sitting on their butts.”

 

August 16, 2010

Scene at a past Burning Man Festival

The cult event that’s been gaining momentum since it started in 1986 is expected to draw 50,000 people into the primitive Black Rock Desert in Nevada from Aug. 30 to Sept. 6.

 

Part art fest, part culture crawl, part way-off-the-grid retreat, the remote festival about 120 miles from Reno, Nevada, that defies description comes with a survival guide to the harsh, waterless site and touts “radical inclusion” as one of its guiding principles, the Los Angeles Times reported.

 

So where exactly do luxury RVs come into the picture? Joe Laing, director of marketing for El Monte RV, says Burning Man is the company’s single biggest event for motorhome rentals. “Each year we are getting more and more requests,” says Laing, whose company has 60 locations nationwide.

High-rollers: Pay a premium to get a luxury 34-foot Fleetwood Fiesta or 35-foot Fleetwood Bounder stocked with groceries and goodies and tricked out with flat-screen TVs, kitchen supplies, bedding and more delivered to a desert spot. The company then fetches guests from the airport (usually Reno) in an RV and shuttles them to the spot.

 

The price-tag: $12,000 to $15,000. So far, Laing has booked about a dozen luxury packages for the 2010 event. “It’s as good accommodations as you’ll get at Burning Man,” he says.

 

Other “burners”: Most festival folks pick up motor-home rentals from sites in the Los Angeles area, Oakland (where the rental representative greets them dressed as Elvis in a gold lamé jacket) or a casino parking lot-turned-campground in Nevada. So far, El Monte RV has 300 motorhomes reserved for people going to Burning Man.

 

The price tag starts at $5,890 plus tax for a Class C 23- to 25-foot motorhome that sleeps up to five people. The cost includes one-week rental with a pick-up in Reno.

And what happens when you return the vehicle dirty and dusty from a week on the sand? “As long as they pay to clean them up, we don’t mind,” Laing says.

 

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