INDUSTRY NEWS
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New Vision Adopted for Go-RVing Market Expansion Program In a surprise move the RVIA board of directors approved a Phase II plan for the Go-RVing market expansion program that nearly doubles the current level of activity and expands the advertising into new markets and longer periods of promotion. According to Tom Faludy, chairman of the Go-RVing Coalition, this means that the RV industry is going, "Prime Time." RVIA was expected to approve Phase II but the board went beyond just approving it. It dramatically increased the total exposure of the campaign from 24 weeks to 36 weeks. It also means that the cost of RVIA seals will go to $44 to partially fund Go-RVing. The campaign will include commercials on college football programming, NFL football games and will also target certain vertical markets not covered before such as the NASCAR audience. RVIA also increased the price of exhibit space across the board by three percent at the National RV Trade Show in Louisville and a three percent increase in exhibit space for RV manufacturers only at the California RV Show. Based on the success of the first phase of the Go-RVing campaign, the coalition hopes this new program will create a "second selling season" in the fall. Louisville Show Changes Approved by RVIA RVIA's board of directors passed a number of show-related motions at their March meeting in Hawaii, including making exhibit space available in the South Wing Ballroom of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (KFEC). Approximately 145 supplier booths will be placed in the Ballroom, freeing up more exhibit space in the South Wing Exhibit Hall for RV manufacturer displays. RVIA is exploring other venues to host the Outlook forum, which had been held in the South Wing Ballroom for the past four years. The board passed a motion that chassis manufacturers that sell to other companies be allocated a maximum of 3,000 square feet of exhibit space in the Broadbent Arena. Additionally, this space will be subject to the same booth fees and Go RVing surcharge as other suppliers exhibiting at the show. This policy is temporary until the planned construction on the East Wing is completed. Budgets for the 1999 National RV Trade Show and California Show were approved. This included space rate increases for both shows. A three percent increase will be placed on all space at the National RV Trade Show. Manufacturer space rates only will increase by three percent at the California RV Show. In another show-related motion, the board approved a policy that allows subsidiary companies divested by a parent company who are members of RVIA to retain seniority rights that the divested company has earned. More on RVIA Board Actions RVIA's board of directors passed a number of other motions at their March meeting in Hawaii, including:
RVDA Board Approves Industry Vision; Endorses Continuation of Go RVing Program RVDA's board of directors approved the final RV Industry Vision at its March meeting in Phoenix, AZ. The board also committed to support the formation of an RV Industry Vision Steering Group to work jointly with other industry associations to attain the vision. In other action, the board:
RVIA Honors Industry Leaders The Distinguished Service to the RV Industry Award, RVIA's highest honor, was presented to Carl Pfalzgraf of Atwood Mobile Products at the association's Annual Meeting recently in Hawaii. Pfalzgraf was recognized for his work in elevating the Trouble Shooter Clinics to a new level and his instrumental efforts in developing funding categories for supplier participation in the Go RVing campaign. The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to an individual within the RV industry who has demonstrated outstanding service over a long period of time. RVIA Past Chairman Kelly Rose in presenting the award said, "All facets of the RV industry have benefitted from Carl's passion and persistence. He has a natural ability to see the whole picture and work bit by bit to pull it all together while maintaining the respect and admiration of his peers." Chairman's Award As RVIA's outgoing chairman, Kelly Rose was presented with the association's Chairman's Award for his work in the position in 1997 and 1998. Established in 1987, the Chairman's Award is presented in honor of Warren Jones for his distinguished leadership as RVIA's first chairman. Rose was honored at the Chairman's Reception and Dinner, where he was given the chairman's ring and a scrapbook. National Education Service Award The National Education Service Award was presented to Jim Jones of the Dometic Corp. This award is for individuals who have been instrumental in the development of education programs for the industry. Jones was recognized for more than 40 combined years of experience on the Industry Education Committee, its technical subcommittee and the Curriculum Development Working Group. He also is a Trouble Shooter Clinic instructor and a Master Certified RV Service Technician. National Scholarship Award The Pennsylvania Recreation Vehicle and Camping Association (PRVCA) was presented the National Scholarship Award, which recognizes state or regional association directors within the RV industry who have contributed to the advancement of the industry in their area. The organization was honored for their leadership in providing career training opportunities in Pennsylvania for RV service technicians. |
National Legislative Award The National Legislative Award is being presented to the Florida State Attorney General's Office's Janet Smith, director of the State Lemon Law Program, and Walter Darland, special counsel, and to Paul Corning, Motor Vehicle Lemon Law Administrator for the State of Washington. These three are being recognized for their work on RV-specific lemon law bills. Distinguished Achievement in RV Standards Tom Arnold of T.R. Arnold Associates will receive the Distinguished Achievement in RV Standards for his contributions in coordinating ANSI code compliances that have assisted many in the RV industry's supplier arena. Distinguished Achievement in RV Journalism The Distinguished Achievement in RV Journalism Award will be presented to CNN correspondent Larry Woods for his "Across America" series that portrayed RV travel in such a positive light while capturing America's love of the open road. RVIA Economist Predicts Shipments Will Gain Another 3% in 1999 Last year was a very good year for the RV industry and RVIA economist, John Dewolfe, thinks 1999 will be even better. He predicts that at annual rates, RV shipments should be better than 300,000 units in each quarter of 1999 except the second quarter when they might miss by less than 1,000. Writing in RVIA roadsigns, he said, "We expect the total for the year to be close to 302,000 units. Growth should continue through the year 2000 when total units shipped should top 310,000." Dewolfe believes that both towables and motorhomes will see more shipments in 1999 than in 1998 - towables by close to 4% more: motorhomes by about 2.5% more. He said, "Both should do better in 2000, though the gains will be less -- around 3% for towables and less than 1% for motorhomes." Workhorse Completes First Pilot Chassis
Manufacturing has begun. Less than two months after finalizing it's purchase of General Motors class A motorhome and commercial chassis division, Workhorse Custom Chassis made its first chassis in March. According to chief operating officer Bob Atkins, the complete assembly line is not up and running, but enough of it is functional for Workhorse to build 20 pilot commercial chassis. He said, "They are quality products subject to our full quality inspection, This was just a slower, more labor-intensive effort than it will be when all the machinery of the assembly line is available to us." The 200,000-square-foot Workhorse plant has been under construction since October and has stayed close to its original construction schedule despite several bouts of weather- induced down time. Construction of the plant has been on a seven-day-a-week pace and that will continue, according to Matt Tummillo, project manager. MARVAC's Sheffer Elected President of the Travel Industry Coalition of Michigan Bill Sheffer, MARVAC director, has been elected president of the Travel Industry Coalition of Michigan (TICOM). Sheffer plans to work diligently promoting tourism in the state of Michigan. According to Sheffer, his long-standing relationship with MARVAC helped pave the way to his new position. As the director of MARVAC, Sheffer knows first hand the importance of promoting tourism by working with legislators. MARVAC has deep roots throughout the state, allowing for contacts with many different groups of people. TICOM's mission is to promote tourism through legislative efforts and public education. Working with "Travel Michigan," a division of the State Job Commission, TICOM hosts a legislative reception for new and veteran legislators. The reception, held in May, allows legislators to get a taste of the tourism industry and provides a forum for TICOM to express its views on pertinent issues such as the gas tax and post-Labor Day school openings. Proposed Arizona State Law Could Impose Manufactured Housing Park Status to RV & Recreational Park Trailer Tenants The Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association, Inc. (RPTIA) is working with the Arizona Parks in an effort to curtail the legislative threat to RV Parks in Arizona. The two groups are working to revise or eliminate SB 1269 which proposes to give manufactured housing resident status to any owner of an RV or Recreational Park Trailer that is sited for a term exceeding 180 days. Occupancy is not a consideration, only the total days of site rental are needed to trigger the change. The impact of the bill will be to eliminate the "power of immediate eviction" for 180 days, plus tenants who disrupt the peace or fail to follow the Park's rules and regulations. Instead, the eviction procedure for these qualifying tenants could take several months, imposing a very disruptive influence which could bring about a massive migration of the more mobile vacation and seasonal park tenants to parks where the peace and tranquility can be properly maintained. Winnebago Receives Top Sales Award Honors
Statistical Surveys, Inc., a retail reporting firm in Grand Rapids, MI, reports that Winnebago Industries, Inc. had received two awards for top retail sales volume achievement for its motor homes. According to Statistical Surveys, Winnebago Industries' Winnebago brand motorhomes were the top selling Class A brand during calendar 1998, outselling every other Class A brand in the United States. Winnebago Industries was also recognized for being the top-selling manufacturer of Class C's in the U.S. Jim Jaskoviak, Winnebago's vice president of sales and marketing, said "Winnebago's employees have worked very hard to achieve these impressive sales goals. We are especially proud to receive these sales awards in a year of record industry-wide RV sales. We attribute this success to developing motorhomes that meet the needs of today's RV buyers, continued high quality standards, the recognition of our well-known Winnebago brand name, as well as our proven partnerships with our network of dedicated and professional, full-service dealers." Time Magazine Picture Hangs in RV Museum
Coachmen Industries has donated a unique "moment in time" to the nation's RV museum. The northern Indiana city of Elkhart was in the limelight last year when Time magazine identified it as the nation's Recreation Vehicle capital in an article about America's Secret Capitals. A photograph taken of downtown Elkhart filled with a parade of Coachmen Industries' RVs and a crowd of patriotic townsfolk covered two pages of the July 13 issue of the magazine. The recognition was a historical moment for the community as well as for the RV industry. As a gesture to preserve the big moment, Coachmen officials enlarged and framed the photo for the RV museum operated by the Recreation Vehicle/Manufactured Housing Heritage Foundation. Coachmen Executive Vice President of Corporate Development Gene E. Stout (left in photo) presented the picture to Heritage Foundation President Carl Ehry. The foundation was formed in Washington, D.C., in 1972 to perpetuate the heritage of the industry. Keystone RV Completes Recapitalization Cole Davis, CEO of Keystone RV Company, recently announced the successful completion of a management-led recapitalization of the company. Joining with Summit Partners, a Boston- based private equity investment firm, and with financial support from BankBoston, N.A., the company repurchased all stock held by non-management investors. The recapitalization provides Keystone's senior management team with a majority ownership of the company. Davis said. "Keystone's alliance with Summit Partners, in combination with management's significant investment, uniquely positions the company for future development, Our management team is focused on growth and is in position to be rewarded for success. Our partnership with Summit Partners and BankBoston provides the financial expertise and resources necessary to support management's plans for growth through either expansion or acquisitions.
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RV Automotive Achievement Award Centurion Vehicles' Bob Froschauer received the RV Automotive Achievement Award, which was established to recognize a person from the automotive industry who has made outstanding contributions to the RV industry. He was honored for his strong leadership skills that renewed the commitment of cooperation between conversion vehicle manufacturers during adverse market conditions. New RV Dealer Internet Site Launched The newest Internet site designed to give RV dealers more visibility for their web sites was recently launched by Web Site Management, Inc. The new site, www.rv-dealers.com, is totally devoted to RV dealers and promotes the products and services these dealers sell, from new RVs to RV Rentals to parts and accessories. Dan Holt, CEO, Web Site Management, said, "It's getting more and more difficult for individual dealer web sites to attract an audience in large numbers because the number of dealer web sites continues to grow. So a web site's success ultimately boils down to what we call "findability." Holt believes that a web site totally dedicated to RV dealers will appeal to consumers who are shopping for a new or used RV. In addition to the large dealer database available on line, consumers will also be able to search a national database of used RVs. "This is a great service to RV shoppers," Holt added. "The searchable database is designed so consumers can look for RVs within a predefined radius of their homes, from 100 miles to the entire country, plus the can search by the type of RV or by manufacturer or brand name." How the site works is through a variety of directories, depending on what criteria the consumer decides to use. And then from these directories, the consumer can link into the dealer's web site and view all the information available. Holt said, "We believe this is an important new dimension for both consumers and dealers. We have priced the program so it is affordable to any RV dealer that has an Internet presence and should go a long way toward giving the dealer the findability that they may not be enjoying with their current promotion efforts." |
| RV Web Site of the Month Stalkup's RV Superstore Stalkups RV Superstore was one of the first RV dealers in the country to see the potential of the Internet and launched their web site three years ago.
The 15-page web site covers the entire gamut of the dealership, from new RV sales to parts and accessories. One of the reasons for Stalkups success is they pay close attention to the site and update it on a weekly basis. Stalkups has tried a variety of experiments using their web site to draw business, but the most popular is their weekly drawing for an accessory from the aftermarket store, and average between 40 to 50 entries each month. Besides learning about the people behind the business on Stalkup's "Who Are We" page, consumers can also buy parts and accessories on line from Stalkups electronic parts and accessories catalog. According to Kim Bradshaw, business manager at Stalkups, the decision to use the Internet has been better than expected. Bradshaw was reluctant to share the numbers of sales from the web site; however, she said, "It's been very profitable." |
| Participation in most recreation
activities is low for people with family incomes below $25,000 per year and often low for
those who have incomes above $100,000. Participation is highest for people with family
incomes between $25,000 and $75,000 per year, which shows that many outdoor recreation
activities are enjoyed primarily by the middle class. Source: Recreation Executive Report Over the
last five years, half of all American adults have participated in adventure travel.
Camping and hiking are the leading soft-adventure activities, involving 64.7 million and
44.8 million Americans respectively. The top hard-adventure activities are whitewater
rafting/ kayaking (14.8 million) and scuba diving/snorkeling (12.4 million). More than half of the states allocate some or all of the
state gas tax monies attributed to marine fuel sales to the state boating program. Among
the top 10 boating states (which account for 6.2 million of the 12 million boats
registered in the U.S.), all but one (New York) earmark marine fuel taxes for their
boating programs. In addition, over 80% of the states use some or all of the state boat
registration fees to fund their boating programs. |
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