March Shipment Numbers Reflect Impact Of COVID-19

After posting month over month gains for the first two months of 2020, the RV Industry Association's March 2020 survey of manufacturers found that total RV shipments ended the month with 30,288 units, a decrease of 20.3 percent from the 38,015 units shipped in March 2019.

March was also the first month when the industry saw manufacturers close production in response to the growing COVID-19 crisis. Despite this reduction in RV production, for the first three months of 2020, RV shipments showed a slight increase (.4 percent) over the same period in 2019.

Towable RVs, led by conventional travel trailers, totaled 27,723 units for the month, a decrease of 17.9 percent compared to last March’s total of 33,754 units. Motorhomes finished the month with 2,565 units, down 39.8 percent compared to the March 2019 total of 4,261 units.

Park Model RVs finished the month down (-12.9 percent) compared to last March with 364 wholesale shipments.

View the full report

As the association works to formulate a revised wholesale shipment forecast for the remainder of 2020 that takes into account the current business environment, the strong position of the RV industry heading into the crisis as well the potential for RVs to be the ideal way to travel while adhering to social distancing once it is safe to travel again, could mitigate the long-term impact on the industry.