Historically there has been little long term correlation between fuel prices and RV retail sales (see The Economy and RV Sales). In fact, RV sales grew the most when fuel prices were skyrocketing (Figure 1). There is a much higher correlation with other macroeconomic factors such as GDP, Personal Consumption Expenditures, and interest rates. Gas prices are are at the bottom of our list of factors for affecting RV growth.

Figure 1 - Retail RV Sales versus Fuel Prices

Table 1 - Towable RV Cost of Ownership Model

Even the low end of the Class A motorhome market is likely to suffer as fuel prices continue to climb. RV Investor expanded on the model originally developed by Bob Gummersal, Chief Technical Officer of RVers Online to determine the contribution of each cost factor to the overall cost of ownership. Not surprisingly, fuel prices are a significant cost contributor at the low end. For example, Figure 3 shows that for a $75,000 Class A motorhome, fuel prices represent about 20% of the cost per mile for part-time enthusiasts or even fulltime RVers. However, capital costs are the most significant cost factor particularly as you go up in price. If you own an expensive RV, you're going to drive it no matter what the price of fuel because it costs you much more to have it sitting around. And, if you can afford a $750,000 motorhome, you probably won't base your purchasing decision on the price at the pump (Figure 7).

Figure 2 - Motorhome Annual Operating Costs

Figure 3 - $75,000 Motorhome Cost per Mile

Figure 4 - $150,000 Motorhome Cost per Mile

Figure 5 - $250,000 Motorhome Cost per Mile

Figure 6 - $500,000 Motorhome Cost per Mile

Figure 7 - $750,000 Motorhome Cost per Mile

Table 2 - Motorized RV (Class A) Cost of Ownership Model [Click here to Download]