Thor Industries said its North American motorized sales soared in the fiscal first quarter of 2026 from a year earlier. The company attributed the growth to burgeoning Type B and Type C shipments.
Thor Industries shipped 26% more Type B motorhomes in the quarter than in the fiscal first quarter of 2025. The company shipped 41% more Type C motorhomes year-over-year.
Thor Industries said Thor Motor Coach is leveraging data to determine strategic price points for value-conscious consumers. In the past year, Thor Industries’ brands have cited using Thor’s Business Intelligence analytic software to improve operations.
In addition, Thor Industries credited Tiffin’s dealer meeting for improved sales. Tiffin hosted its dealers in April for its first dealer meeting since 2018.
“Tiffin…had a chance to connect with key customers and showcase their new product portfolio,” Thor Industries said, “which includes a greater emphasis on their expansion beyond the Class A market that has historically been their hallmark.”
Thor Industries said the company expected dealers’ motorized orders to remain suppressed until the selling season nears. However, a 32.5% year-over-year backlog increase represents a potential source of additional revenue.
Thor Industries’ brands posted market share gains since the company reported market share six months earlier. North American towable RV market share totaled 38.2%, up from 37.4% at the end of the fiscal third quarter of 2025. North American motorized market share totaled 47.9%, up from 45.9% six months earlier.
The company said initiatives to gain market share with key independent dealers have made the difference. Thor Industries said strategic initiatives to strengthen relations, combined with President and CEO Bob Martin’s detailed re-engagement, led the change.
“As part of his increased involvement and the company’s streamlined operational structure,” Thor Industries said, “our sales force has been rationalized, and more enterprise-level arrangements are being put in place.”
Private label RVs are responsible for some share gains, according to the company, with more expected. Thor Industries said Heartland RV’s revamped line is just starting to be loaded into the channel.
“All else equal,” the company said, “we would anticipate that, as the newer products that we introduced for model year 2026 make their way into the channel, we will be in a better position to grow market share.”
The company said dealer inventory levels are in “very good shape.” Dealer turns averaged 1.9 during the quarter.
Fifth wheel wholesale shipments are up approximately 21% in the first nine months of 2025 from the first nine months of 2024. Thor Industries said the difference is related to dealers’ mix skewed too heavily toward travel trailers, leading to a modest normalization of the fifth wheel mix.
Finally, the company said the industry downtown post-pandemic has not diminished the RV industry’s long-term strength.
“While this has been an inordinately long trough,” Thor Industries said, “we continue to believe that this is an industry that is poised to experience a higher ceiling and higher floor….We believe that the largest headwinds to demand have been consumer confidence and the affordability dynamic.”
