Twenty-five years ago this month topics of discussion in RV News included the upcoming Dodger Show, the Trend to Down-size RVs, how to avoid warranty problems and a new promotion to help take the seasonality out of aftermarket sales and service. Following is a digest of some of the articles in the September 1975 issue.

A Go-Go Group
Darryl Searer Meets with RVPSA
By Ken Fermoyle

The Recreation Vehicle Parts and Service Association (RVPSA) celebrates its first anniversary next month. Super! Right?

Add 85 cents to that news and it might buy you a drink during the Happy Hour at your favorite bar. Frankly, that's just how I felt when Dan Holt, RV News publisher, put the arm on me to attend the August RVPSA general membership meeting.

Going in, I knew little about what the group was all about. And probably could not have cared less. The amazing thing is this: They made a believer out of me.

Why?

This is a group that flat gets things done. Asks questions, often embarrassing ones. And, at least for the meeting I attended, attracts guests that not only come up with reasonable answers, but add a lot to the education of RVPSA members.

Guests at the meeting I attended were Darryl Searer, West Coast General Manager, Dometic Sales, and Don Whitehead, Domestic Sales and Service.

The give-and-take between RVPSA members and Searer was memorable - and highly educational. No holds were barred. It Makes Sense!

The result, in my opinion, was that everyone there learned something. And that, henceforth, there would be a better relationship between Dometic and you dealers out there on the firing line.

Darryl Searer came over as an honest, sincere representative of a firm that is trying to do right by RV dealers with whom the company does business. RVPSA members certainly were not shrinking violets when it came to spelling out problems they face when dealing with his company and others in the RV business.

It's almost a certainty that not everyone was in total agreement when the meeting ended - but I doubt seriously that anyone present could say that they had not garnered at least a few nuggets of wisdom as a result of the program.

It's Show Time Or almost . . .

The 23rd annual Recreation Vehicle and Mobile Home Show opens in Dodger Stadium November 5 (1975) and runs through November 16. Dealer Days will be Wednesday, November 5 through Friday, November 7. The show will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on those dates for dealers only.

You can tell your customers that they will be welcome during public days, November 8 - -16, during which the Kirkby Company will turn its 50-foot booth over to members of the Recreation Vehicle Parts and Service Association (RVPSA). Up to 1,000 RV units are expected inside the stadium area; some 50 to 60 mobile homes will be displayed outside the perimeter of the stadium. Approximately 200 supplier exhibits are also expected.

Co-sponsored by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) and Trailer Coach Association (TCA), the Dodger Stadium show is the largest RV/mobile home show held in the western states.

'Think Small' Is the Trend In RV Size
But Those Who Think Big Will Get
Future Business

After years of considering everything in a bigger is better framework it appears that the RV business will be headed in a new direction during the future. All signs indicate that the next few years will be a think small period.

Or, at least, think smaller.

This obviously will have serious effects on all phases of the RV industry and everyone involved, whether they be manufacturers, suppliers or dealers, should be prepared to cope with the changing situation. Reasons for the upcoming changes aren't difficult to find . . .

Item: The fuel shortage of 1974 may or may not be repeated in the immediate future, but there is little doubt that prices on gasoline pumps are headed in only one direction. Up! There is just as little doubt that the majority of consumers will be looking for better fuel economy from their vehicles.

Item: Auto - and truck - companies plan to put more and more emphasis on smaller, less powerful vehicles in response to public pressure caused by rising gasoline prices. International has already discontinued its standard size pickup and Travelall lines, replacing them with smaller trucks and wagons based on Scout II models. Chrysler has lopped off some of its biggest cars and reportedly will offer nothing bigger than what are currently considered intermediate models within a year of so.

Item: Auto industry experts predict that, with the possible exception of a few luxury cars, it will be impossible to buy an automobile with an engine of more than 44-cubic-inches displacement in the next year or two.

These factors certainly pose problems for the RV industry. It would be foolish to adopt a head-in-the-sand attitude and ignore what's happening in the real world. It would be equally foolish to take a defeatist, dooms-crying attitude toward the future of the business.

The free-swinging days of the late '60s and early '70s, when there seemed to be no limit to the RV growth potential, may be past - but the RVing way of life has become too essential to go the way of the dinosaurs.

So it seems that while the trend is toward think small on an overall basis, it appears that the future of the RV industry belongs to those who think big, with imagination, hardheaded planning and a realistic attitude in terms of what consumers will demand in the marketplace.

Kirkby Plans Unique Dealer Program

A unique, long term and comprehensive dealer program designed to promote sales of RV and other recreation-oriented aftermarket products on a year-round basis will be started this fall by the Kirkby Company.

Called the Unified Dealer Kirkby Program, its initial aim will be to improve sales for dealers during the winter season - with special emphasis on the Christmas period. 

"We are well aware of the need to level out the seasonal highs and lows that are traditional in the RV aftermarket industry," reports Manny Hernandez, General Manager and President of Kirkby Company.

"However, that's just the beginning. We plan for the Unified Dealer Kirkby Program to be an ongoing program, and one that will be of significant benefit to those dealers who elect to participate in the program. The year-round multi-faceted program will benefit the service and supply store dealers directly - twelve months a year in some form."

The dealers participating will be designated as Kirkby Best Value Dealers and will receive decals to identify their stores as such. Other dealer aids will be advertising support, a liberal exchange goods program, plus efforts toward yellow page listings, manufacturer service training assistance, special prices on cooperative ad leader items, help in setting up individual dealer merchandising and point-of-sale efforts, attractive prices on catalogs imprinted with dealer logos - and more.

RV News Staffer UP For An Award

Max D. Todd, a member of the RV News staff, has been nominated for one of the 1975 Writer of the Year awards to be presented by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) at the Louisville show. Todd's entry in the competition is based on his work for Family Motor Coaching, the official publication of the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA).

Todd is a veteran writer in the RV field, having been a staff member of frequent contributor to such publications as Camper Coachmen and Woodall's Trailer Travel.

RVN