Stat Surveys: May Motorized Sales Turn Downward

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Two months of steady growth in the retail sales of motorized RVs came to an end in May with a decline in both Class A and Class C retail registrations, according to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc.

The Grand Rapids, Mich., firm reported total registrations of 1,709 units, compared with 3,508 in May 2008, for a 51.3% decline.

The May registration total of 1,709 fell short of the 2,221 sold in April.

The breakdown by class for May was as follows:

• Class A, 928 sold compared with 1,887 in May 2008.
• Class C, 781 sold compared with 1,621 in May 2008.

Winnebago Industries Inc. regained the No. 1 position for motorhome sales with 370 units retailed in May, compared with runner-up Thor Industries Inc.’s  318. The two were locked in a dead heat in April.

Winnebago’s market share for May was 21.7%  and 19.1% year-to-date, while Thor’s was 18.6% for May and 18.4% year-to-date.

By class, Winnebago was No. 1 in Class A sales with 184 units sold (19.8% market share) in May, while Thor and Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. were tied for second each with 153 units sold (16.5% market share). And Winnebago held the top spot in Class C sales with 186 (23.8% market share). Thor was second with 165 sales (21.1% market share).

The reporting firm revealed that the state of Alaska experienced a two-year decline of 91.8%

“Alaska is a big rental fleet state. We believe that the 2008 (total) contains rental fleet registrations. The May 2009 data reflects the retail accurately without any rentals,” Statistical Surveys noted.