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    January 2003 Volume 28 - Number 6    

RV News Feature     


    

It was a very good show

The accolades and press releases keep pouring in and there's a common theme among them all...
It was a very good show!

Sheila Davis at Winnebago said, "Our dealers were extremely pleased and expressed their compliments repeatedly on Winnebago Industries receiving the 2002 Quality Circle Award from RVDA, as well as our $100,000 contribution to the Go RVing campaign. Their attitudes were also outstanding. They’ve had a very good year and are very optimistic that next year will be as good or better. Due to the popularity of full-body paint, they were excited to see us move that option into the mid-priced diesel Winnebago Journey DL and Itasca Horizon. In general, our dealers seemed pleased with all of our new products that were introduced at the show, including the modified Minnie Winnie and Itasca Sundancer 30V, the affordable 33-foot Winnebago Sightseer and Itasca Sunova, the new Winnebago Adventurer and Itasca Suncruiser 37C, and the new Ultimate Advantage 40K triple slide." 

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Like other public companies, Winnebago withheld sales numbers from the show until their next quarterly public filing. 

Airstream displayed two SkyDeck motorhomes. SkyDeck president, Jim Teeter, noted, "We are pleased with the response from the Louisville show and Airstream’s introduction of both their gas and diesel SkyDeck models. SkyDeck continues to draw large crowds whenever the units are on display and Louisville continued that tradition. There were people on top of those coaches at all times. We are constantly striving to meet the demand created by SkyDeck models and are now looking at improving production capabilities as well as some product modifications to meet the demand of the RV enthusiasts who have fallen in love with this concept. We are looking forward to Airstream’s aggressive marketing approach to our products as well as the addition of another manufacturer on the West Coast." 

When asked how the show was for National RV, Matt Howard was pleased to report, "Our sales were up substantially; slightly more than double our order intake over last year’s show. Our lower-priced (not entry level) triple slide diesel product, the Tropi-Cal, did very well. Our dealers indicated that there were few good products in this price range at the show. Also, our mid to lower priced gas products, Sea Breeze and Sea Breeze LX, performed very well. This reflects the pressure dealers have been getting from customers to offer larger chassis (W22’s) on lower priced coaches. We revamped the Sea Breeze with new features and pricing and, judging by the orders they placed, our dealers were extremely pleased that National RV has once again re-entered the affordable Class A market." 

As for the business outlook, Howard said, "We are cautiously optimistic. Our dealers indicated that they believe they are going to have a great 2003. However, they are less inclined to take large risks and jeopardize the success they have had in managing their inventories." 

Mike Duncan at Monaco reports that, "Our unit sales on a "like model" basis were up this year and our orders increased. We’ll put the exact numbers out at the time of our FY03 earnings release in mid January. Our strongest orders were in towables and gas coaches. Our diesel sales have been strong all year. 2003 should be a very good year for RV sales. Reasonable dealer inventory levels, good consumer demand and excellent products. If the economy picks up even a little bit, we’ll be in a great position as an industry." 

Fleetwood RV reported that sales at the Louisville show were up 27% from last year with over $110 million in orders written at the show. Larry Marsh said, "We were very pleased with the traffic in the booth. Orders were almost double last year’s results and we were able to set up several new Caravan distribution points. Bob Thompson noted, "We made so many enhancements to our products this year that it was difficult for our dealers to see everything in the short time available. We expect additional orders to come in once dealers have a chance to re-evaluate their product offerings as a result of significant changes to the Fleetwood product line." 

Carol Taylor-Clay at Country Coach said, "For NRV and CCI, it was a good, positive show. It definitely surpassed past years for both companies. Country Coach had a great reception for our new First Avenue Intrigue and Allure, and in particular, the new 42’ Ovation floor plan. We also leaked word about a new product due to be released, the Inspire. This brand will initially debut as an entry level, for Country Coach, diesel unit, coming in at the $200,000 MSRP mark. Later in the fall, we’ll release a gas model. The dealer reception for this was very good. Our intent is to provide more of a step-up plan for our existing dealers so their customers can get into the CC product sooner. We are working to make it a good strong year. We feel cautiously optimistic that things will continue to be strong for the industry as a whole." 

Sporting a new nameplate, Damon Motor Coach observed increased dealer order volumes. Gary Groom said, "We were extremely pleased with the dealer response to our quad-slide Escaper LX-400. Our dealer order volume was up across the board, and we had a lot of interest from non-Damon Motor Coach dealers who are starting to notice the product lineup. The price point on the LX-400, around $200,000, really caught their attention and we are making it available on the Freightliner XC and Spartan chassis." 

Claire Skinner at Coachmen said, "We’re very pleased with this healthy increase in sales at the Louisville show as we continue to receive orders." Coachmen reported that unit sales during the Louisville show were up 31% compared to last year. 

Rexhall’s Bill Rex noted, "We introduced four all new floor plans, which contributed greatly to our success at the show." One of the floor plans was an innovative, 35’ triple-slide gas model that includes the entry door in one of the living room slides. Michael Bourne said, "This innovation was the talk of the show as dealers and competitive manufacturers spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the product. Of course, we concealed the mechanisms to make it difficult to copy, since we are applying for a patent. When comparing apples to apples, this year’s show was the best overall show ever for Rexhall and by far the second best in terms of orders written. This year we have the chassis on hand and the people in place to fill these orders more smoothly and timely than we did last year." 

Gulf Stream has also reported that dealer orders at Louisville were more than double last year’s numbers. Thor has reported record sales of $113 million worth of dealer orders during the show, which exceeded last year’s volume by 51%. Total attendance at the Louisville show was up 14% over 2001 despite a snowstorm on the third day of the show. A total of 12,443 people attended the show. The number of people representing RV dealerships increased 18% to 5,017 people. 

Yes, it was a very good show, and it will be a very good year.


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