A Lot of Very Good Things Happening in The Industry

OUTLOOK 1999

Industry Leaders and Economist Address RVIA Show Attendees

By Bob Zagami, contributing editor

Attendees at the 1998 National RV Show in Louisville had an opportunity to hear association leaders and an international economist shed light on the future potential of our industry. The outlook is good, in fact it is very good, if everyone believes the messages that were delivered and will support them during the coming year.

Wilbur Bontrager, RVIA and Jayco chairman opens Outlook 1999.

Wilbur Bontrager, RVIA chairman of the board and chairman of Jayco, Inc., opened the program with an outline of the topics that would be covered at this annual industry event.

Dave Humphreys, RVIA president, encouraged the audience to consider all the good news they were going to hear and consider that it came from their competitors. The message was very clear from the association president -- there are a lot of very good things happening in this industry. It's obvious that many of the programs are yielding positive results and contributing to the 15-percent growth being enjoyed by the RV industry this year.

The Go RVing campaign is now entering its third year and surveys indicate that the general public has a much better understanding of the RV industry then when the program first began.

Humphreys is also very excited about the Committee on Excellence endeavor to conduct meaningful research with the consumer who is buying RV products. Working with J.D. Power & Associates, a global leader in market research, this committee has recently launched the RV Consumer Satisfaction Survey. The survey is designed to find out what the consumer thinks of the products they have purchased and their perceptions of the industry. The survey will focus on approximately 30,000 owners of 1997 model year motorhomes and towables. This is a major step in the right direction and will only be successful if the dealers and manufacturers actually read and comprehend the results. This information must be taken seriously by everyone in the industry and we must all learn from the data that will be presented by the experts.

Manufacturer/Dealer relations are improving and Humphreys was very proud of the accomplishments in this area. Dispute resolution took a few giant steps forward, and in the right direction, with the new mediation/arbitration process. The RV industry can be proud of this program and should continue to work on the process improvement that led to RVIA being the first industry group to launch such an innovative program. Humphreys applauded industry efforts but emphasized the importance of continued strengthening of relationships between manufacturers and dealers.

In closing, Humphreys said, "the sky's the limit." It can be ... if you want it to be. continued