| The Recreational
Vehicle Industry Association reported wholesale shipments of 25,000
units in May, down 25.6% from the same period in 2007. Motorhomes sales
continue to be the hardest hit, down 48.1% from 2007 and
at the lowest level in over two and a half years. Motorhome shipments have been
hardest hit because of tightening debt (story)
and fuel prices that continue to climb and have broken the $4 per gallon
mark.
According to the RVIA and Dr. Richard
Curtin, Director of Consumer Surveys at the University of Michigan, RV
shipments will again decline in 2008 due to higher credit standards,
falling household wealth, slower growth in real incomes, and diminished
consumer confidence. Shipments in 2008 are still expected to be the
eighth highest in the past 25 years, totaling approximately 305,000
units. That represents a 13.6% decrease over 2007. Year to date, the
actual wholesale shipments are down 11.8% compared with the same period
in 2007.
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