Survey of RVers Hints at Modest 2007 RV Sales

RV manufacturers will likely not experience banner sales in 2007 according to a December survey of motorhome and travel trailer owners by RVtravel.com.

Edmonds, WA (PRWEB) January 10, 2007 -- RV manufacturers will likely not experience banner sales in 2007 according to a December survey of motorhome and travel trailer owners by RVtravel.com (http://www.Rvtravel.com).

Only twelve percent of 1,200 RV Travel readers reported that they definitely plan to purchase a recreational vehicle this year. Another 10 percent said they will probably buy an RV. But the bulk of the website's readers - 78 percent - do not plan to buy an RV in 2007.

"Our readers are avid RVers, not just those who own an RV but seldom use it, so this survey reflects the intentions of very active RVers," said RVtravel.com editor Chuck Woodbury. "So it's not necessarily terrible news for the RV industry. With eight million households owning at least one RV, if 12 percent were to buy an RV this year, I'm sure that would be very good news. But I don't think that's the case."

"The last time we asked this question to our readers, in June, 2004, more than 17 percent of our readers said they would buy an RV within the next 12 months. About half of them planned to purchase a used unit rather than a new one."

Still, long-range prospects for strong RV sales appear bright as huge numbers of baby boomers begin entering the prime age demographic, 55 to 64, with the highest ownership rates, according to a University of Michigan survey conducted for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. Today one-in-10 vehicle-owning households in that age group owns at least one RV.

Every weekend, RVtravel.com posts a question to the 35,000 readers of its weekly email newsletter. "Anyone who takes the time to browse through these surveys will get a very good idea about the lifestyle habits of our readers, but more important about RVers in general," said Woodbury. "Survey questions range from highly RV-relevant, like 'Have you ever filed a claim with your RV insurance company' (32 percent have), to those more whimsical, like 'When you look in mirror what do you see?' (29 percent answered 'A person who looks too old to be me.')."

More than 150 weekly RVtravel.com surveys can be viewed online at http://www.RVtravel.com/survey .

RVtravel.com is based in Edmonds, Wash., and is in its eighth year of providing news and information to the RV community. More than 600,000 RVers visit each month to the website and its sister sites including NewRVer.com (http://www.NewRVer.com) and RVbookstore.com (http://www.RVbookstore.com).

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