The latest J.D. Power Market Insights report on the RV industry found RV values at or near peak levels despite the 2023 retail sales slowdown.
The market is facing economic headwinds, the report said, and inventory levels are normalizing. The values of camping trailers, Type C motorhomes and truck campers all remain higher in the first half of 2023 than they were in the first half of 2022.
“With Class C motorhomes, Camping Trailers, and Truck Campers all showing higher values in May-June 2023 compared to year-prior,” the report said, “it is difficult to take an overly pessimistic view of market conditions in the second half of the year.”
J.D. Power said the macroeconomic conditions would have to “worsen fairly notably” for RV values to drastically reverse in the second half of 2023.
The report found travel trailers’ most recent 10 model years averaged 6.8% lower values in the first half of 2023 compared with the first half of 2022. For fifth wheels, values averaged 4.7% less.
Type A motorhomes averaged 3.1% lower values in the first half of 2023 than the first half of 2022. However, Type C motorhomes’ values averaged 2.1% higher values. Camping trailers averaged 1.3% higher values and truck campers averaged 2.9% higher values in the same time periods.
J.D. Power also tracks the most viewed RVs and brands online during the report’s time period. In the second quarter of 2023, consumers searched for towable RVs 67% of the time, followed by Type A motorhomes (16%), Type C motorhomes (11%) and Type B motorhomes (3%).
Keystone RV (32%) was the towable brand most often researched. Jayco (16%) was next, followed by Grand Design (10%) and Heartland RV (10%), Forest River’s Cherokee (8%), then Coachmen RV and Forest River’s Rockwood, Wildwood and Salem (all 5%).
Among Type A motorhomes, Thor Motor Coach (21%) was the most researched brand, followed by Winnebago (18%) and Tiffin’s Allegro (15%). Holiday Rambler (8%) was next, with Winnebago’s Itasca and Tiffin’s Phaeton at 7%. Fleetwood RV’s Bounder, Monaco, Entegra Coach and Forest River’s Georgetown all were researched 6% of the time.
Among Type C motorhomes, Thor Motor Coach (29%) again was the researched leader, followed by Winnebago and Jayco at 15%. Coachmen RV (13%) was next, with Forest River’s Sunseeker (9%) and Forester (6%) were next, followed by Gulf Stream and Winnebago’s Itasca (4%), Entegra Coach (3%) and Thor Motor Coach’s Four Winds (2%).
