Springfield, MA RV Show Observations

[harryjr]

The RV show at the Eastern States Exposition grounds is probably the largest annual show in New England. Every Presidents Day weekend.

Just a few observations from Friday evening 2/14/25:
Crowd was good sized. But nasty weather predicted for the rest of the weekend. We went Friday this year since the show is in 3 separate buildings. Maybe others did the same. It would be interesting to learn the crowd size for Sat, Sun, and Mon.

Where are the BigRig Diesels? Only 2 Class A's that we saw. Both low end Thor Industries. No Airstreams, unless we missed them. But one dealer with Oliver TT's. $80K for a 24 foot TT? (https://olivertraveltrailers.com/travel-trailers/legacy-elite-2/ if you're curious) Guess they're chasing the Airstream folks. A lot of Class C's, but no Super C's.

More truck slide-ins compared to previous years. More teardrops also. Conversely, the fifth-wheels were mostly larger ones. Think one-ton dually catagory. More Brinkleys than previous years.

Only saw one couple sitting down with a sales rep scratching out numbers.

New and improved? Other than new paint layout, not much. Most bodies were white with black decals. Interior, all white. Heard one women comment the interiors are too cold and sterile for her tastes. Nothing that would make us consider a trade.

There seemed to be more campground booths than other years. Maybe they're not fully booked as they have been?

I'd like to see a ticket option to attend the day before and see the load in. I'm lucky to hit my campsite on the first try. They have hundreds in there with only inches nose to butt.

[Dutch Star Don]

It's not like the old days. The big diesels are too expensive to inventory. If you want one, you typically have to order one. We were recently at a rally with the president of Newmar. They said the future for them was smaller all electric interiors and eventually electric RV's. They have their future sights set on the current generation, Gen Z or X whichever it is that want smaller more agile RV's.

[Jkwilson1989]

I’ve always thought the big shows could make money by setting up cameras and making time lapse videos of set up and tear down.

[harryjr]

Originally Posted by Jkwilson1989

I’ve always thought the big shows could make money by setting up cameras and making time lapse videos of set up and tear down.

I'd pay a buck for that video.

[harryjr]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

It's not like the old days. The big diesels are too expensive to inventory. If you want one, you typically have to order one. We were recently at a rally with the president of Newmar. They said the future for them was smaller all electric interiors and eventually electric RV's. They have their future sights set on the current generation, Gen Z or X whichever it is that want smaller more agile RV's.

I wonder if the California (and other states) ban on diesel RV's may have caused the manufacturers to take a breath? Will there be changes made to the ban after the results of November's election? Let's not turn that rock over in this forum. There are plenty of other internet pages for people on both sides to lose their minds.

[bentjm]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

It's not like the old days. The big diesels are too expensive to inventory. If you want one, you typically have to order one. We were recently at a rally with the president of Newmar. They said the future for them was smaller all electric interiors and eventually electric RV's. They have their future sights set on the current generation, Gen Z or X whichever it is that want smaller more agile RV's.

When I bought my used 2022 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40IP last May, the salesman said that over a third of their sales were class Bs. They had $200,000 dollar class Bs in the showroom.

[Jangel76]

Originally Posted by harryjr

The RV show at the Eastern States Exposition grounds is probably the largest annual show in New England. Every Presidents Day weekend.

Just a few observations from Friday evening 2/14/25:
Crowd was good sized. But nasty weather predicted for the rest of the weekend. We went Friday this year since the show is in 3 separate buildings. Maybe others did the same. It would be interesting to learn the crowd size for Sat, Sun, and Mon.

Where are the BigRig Diesels? Only 2 Class A's that we saw. Both low end Thor Industries. No Airstreams, unless we missed them. But one dealer with Oliver TT's. $80K for a 24 foot TT? (https://olivertraveltrailers.com/travel-trailers/legacy-elite-2/ if you're curious) Guess they're chasing the Airstream folks. A lot of Class C's, but no Super C's.

More truck slide-ins compared to previous years. More teardrops also. Conversely, the fifth-wheels were mostly larger ones. Think one-ton dually catagory. More Brinkleys than previous years.

Only saw one couple sitting down with a sales rep scratching out numbers.

New and improved? Other than new paint layout, not much. Most bodies were white with black decals. Interior, all white. Heard one women comment the interiors are too cold and sterile for her tastes. Nothing that would make us consider a trade.

There seemed to be more campground booths than other years. Maybe they're not fully booked as they have been?

I'd like to see a ticket option to attend the day before and see the load in. I'm lucky to hit my campsite on the first try. They have hundreds in there with only inches nose to butt.

We went Saturday and it was busy, it took 45 minutes to get in the gate with their new ticket system of getting tickets at the parking booths. Not impressed with the show.

[NXR]

Motorhome sales are flushing even deeper into the toilet. Link is to the RVIA December and 2024 stats for new unit sales: https://www.rvnews.com/wp-content/up...ers_Survey.pdf

6,706 new Class A's of all types shipped in 2024. That's a drop of 31.6% from 2023.

Divided by 49 states (because Hawaii doesn't really count) shows an average of 137 Class A's of all types were sold in each state in 2024.

Divided by 12 months shows an average of 11 new Class A's of all types were sold in each state each month of 2024 versus maybe 17 in each state each month in 2023.

Frankly, I'm kind of surprised anyone is stocking a Class A at those sale rates. Maybe they were ordered too far in advance to cancel. The dealers probably didn't make that mistake for FY 2025.


Total towables sold in 2024 of all types: 298,842

Total motorhomes sold in 2024 of all types: 34,891

Total RVs: 333,733 of which motorhomes of all types comprised 10.5%.

Us motorhome owners are a dying breed, literally and physically.


Pic is from an RV Appraisals group with the answer by the person who started the company. It's an interesting observation on the current Class B market. And on Super C's.

There seemed to be more campground booths than other years. Maybe they're not fully booked as they have been?

My sample size is very limited but SW Florida is not full up this year from what I've seen. The place we're at usually is 100% for almost all of the three months of Jan-Feb-March. It was about 80% in January and is now about 90%.

I'm still seeing campgrounds in the area advertising they "still have a few spots" available.

When we arrived at Creekside RV Resort in Punta Gorda in early December for a one-month stay I was shocked to see it was barely 25% full. They were scheduled to have 140 arrive on January 1st and they delayed their expansion again. And they had spots available as well but were full up in previous years.

Methinks the economy and prospects for the near future are causing people to take a pause. But if they are coming south from the north they picked the wrong year to stay home, weather-wise.

Ray

[Sam 3]

Had an RV salesman from our local dealer say that you can brag about a high number of sales. The reality is half of them won't qualify for financing.

[Donskiman]

That show was similar to every RV show we’ve ever been to in Colorado. We stopped going because the shows never had anything we were interested in. Instead of paying for worthless RV shows we just go to the big dealers and can see lots of big rigs for free.

[mdcamping]

Flu, weather and misc other things has kept us from going for the first time in 20+ years

We always treated the event as the first sign of spring, that said I think spring wants nothing to do with New England... brrrrr
Though we have never specifically purchased a RV at the show we did find 2 models at the show that we did eventually purchase.

We hope to be at the Sun RV & Camping Show next month

Mike

[harryjr]

Originally Posted by Sam 3

Had an RV salesman from our local dealer say that you can brag about a high number of sales. The reality is half of them won't qualify for financing.

Quick question. The half that won't qualify for financing. Was he referring to the customers or his fellow, "sucessful" salesmen? A lot of "sucessful" salesmen would walk into bankruptcy court bragging about how great they are doing.

[Cumminsfan]

Similar experience at a local show near me. Lots of low end mid range priced RV's. No Big Montana's, Solitudes, Cedar Creeks like last year.
Very few big class A's.
Buyer demographics have changed. More buyers in the 35-50 year old range. That means kids, which means less digressionary spending. Couple that with the high prices and high interest rates puts a damper on buying bigger RV's.JMO.

[OldBaldFat]

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

Buyer demographics have changed. More buyers in the 35-50 year old range. That means kids, which means less digressionary spending.

Demographics are always changing, but not really that much.

The family with late elementary/ early teens kids has always been a major part of the RV market. And they have always bought towables mostly, maybe Class C or lower Gas Class A models.

Those folks have always been at government run parks, and they don't demand full-hookups. They want to enjoy the outdoors. It was that way in the 1960's when I was growing up, when I took my kids, when I took my grandkids. I still seen those folks today.

In the 1980's I never looked at the Class A rigs, gas or diesel. They were not in my price range.

Now there was a temporary spike in the Class A, older folks rigs when the Baby Boomers started to retire. Then add COVID where it seemed everyone wanted an RV.

The Baby Boomer bubble is over, we are over 70 now. The COVID bubble is over. RV's aren't that great for full-time living for most folks.

The market always falls behind the changes in the demographics.