Camping World President and CEO Matthew Wagner said last week that he is happy with how the dealer chain performed in a challenging market.
SSI reported new RV sales through February were down more than 15% from the first two months of 2025. Wagner said he believes Camping World outperformed the broader new RV sales market in every major category. He said this was largely due to Camping World’s exclusive brand strategy.
“Within the new fifth wheel segment, we are up nearly 10% year to date,” Wagner said, “driven by the introduction of private label products that hit compelling price points with unique features.”
As of May 1, Camping World’s same-store RV inventory is down more than 10% year-over-year, and the company has bought over 20% fewer RVs year to date, year-over-year.
“Even with fewer RVs in inventory, our daily sales velocity for the month of April is positive versus last year,” Wagner said. “Our new model year 2025 inventory now sits in roughly 8% of total new inventory, down over 50% in units versus the same time last year.”
Fewer than four months into the year, Camping World officials said they believe the industry is likely to track towards the lower end of its 2026 retail outlook of 325,000 to 350,000 new RV sales.
He said the used RV industry will likely end up near the midpoint of Camping World’s projected range, between 715,000 and 750,000 RVs.
Wagner said F&I sales per RV increased.
“Historically speaking, when our average sales price goes up, that F&I penetration typically goes down a little bit,” Wagner said. “We have seen some interesting dynamics recently within the F&I segment. We have been tracking the amount of down payment that consumers are coming into the finance office with, and therefore they also are looking to add on a number of different finance products in the back end.”
More specifically, Wagner said, Camping World has recognized that consumers buying RVs costing over $50,000 are making higher down payments than the company has historically seen.
“Whereas those consumers that are buying lower price assets, oftentimes under, say, $25,000, they are actually coming to the finance office with a little bit lower down payment amount,” Wagner said. “In either cohort, we are still seeing a higher product attachment that is all the Good Sam affinity products that we offer, roadside assistance, service plans, tire/wheel protection, etc.”
Many RV buyers have been in negative equity positions since the pandemic. Wagner said the RV industry is seeing an improvement in consumers’ financial situations.
“We are seeing more of a corrective, self-healing environment in this industry,” Wagner said. “You have seen declining demand on the new RV sales side, which I believe is a high corollary to what that negative equity position has been historically.”
Camping World said trade-ins have not materially increased yet. Wagner said consumers who bought an RV between 2018 and 2021 are beginning to come back.
“We would anticipate by the end of this year to be in the early innings of what we think will be a trading cycle that…materialized with greater frequency and magnitude over the ensuing three to five years,” Wagner said. “At that point, beginning in 2027-28, the industry should start to see the benefit of a double-stack effect.”
The double-stack effect refers to consumers who bought an RV in 2020-22 and are seeking to trade in, waiting longer than Camping World has traditionally seen to trade in for a newer model. In addition, consumers who bought new RVs in 2024 may soon join the consumers seeking to trade up.
“This is now where we believe it is more of a theoretical debate on how the industry has never quite seen this before,” Wagner said. “So how big is that? Order of magnitude? [We] do not quite know yet.”
Camping World has seen a 5% to 7% price increase in model year 2026 RVs compared to 2025. The company said it has been working diligently with manufacturing partners to ensure model year 2027 RVs are made with a focus on affordability.
“We have already started to receive some 2027 motorized units, and we are pleased to report at this moment, we are only seeing about a 1% to 2% price increase,” Wagner said, “which we believe is roughly in line with what consumers can handle based upon inflation.”
Overall, Wagner said the company has “had a significant outperformance” in the first quarter of 2026, attributable to Camping World’s inventory strategy associated with its exclusive brands.
“Even as we look at our specific exclusive travel trailer brand in the month of April, we are trending to be up in excess of 20% year-over-year,” Wagner said. “We believe we are best in class at our exclusive brand strategy, especially over the last two to three years.”
