If you think the RV parks and campgrounds of America are especially crowded, just wait. It could get a whole lot worse.
Wholesale RV shipments are forecast to gain nearly 20 percent to 502,582 units in 2021 after totaling 423,628 units in 2020, according to the Winter 2020 RV RoadSigns prepared by ITR Economics for the RV Industry Association.
The new projection sees total shipments ranging between 490,300 and 515,400 units with the most likely year-end total reaching 502,582 units by the end of next year, an 18.7 percent increase over 2020. Over the next two months, shipments are anticipated to finish within a range of 414,100 to 433,100 units with the most likely outcome being 423,638 units. That total would represent a 4.3 percent gain over the 406,700 units in 2019, overcoming a nearly two-month RV industry shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The RV industry is on track to break half a million RV shipments in 2021 for only the second time in our history,” said RV Industry Association President Craig Kirby. “The new forecast also shows that 2020 will be the fourth best year on record, surpassing 2019 by nearly 5 percent, despite the nearly two-month shutdown [last] spring.”
Towable RV shipments are expected to range between 442,200 and 465,200 units with a most likely outcome of 453,200 units in 2021, and 376,100 and 393,200 units with a most likely total of 384,600 in 2020.
Motorhome shipments are projected to range between 48,100 and 50,200 units with a most likely total of 49,200 units in 2021, and 38,100 and 39,900 units with a most likely outcome of 39,000 units in 2020.
SOURCE: RV Industry Association