RVBusiness, January/February 2021

TOPof theNews Outgoing RVIA Chair Enyart Touts Resilient Nature of the Industry in a Challenging 2020 Despite it being a challenging year for everyone the RV Industry Association RVIA and the RV industry in general will look back on 2020 as being one in which the creative nature and relentless work ethic of all helped close out the year with incredible momentum Those were the words Dec 10 of Garry Enyart of Cummins Inc and the outgoing RVIA chairman during the Reston Va based associations hour long annual meeting in which RVIA officials detailed its accomplishments Redfern Enyart during 2020 and a rosy forecast for 2021 and beyond What a year 2020 quickly turned from Are we going to make it to Are we going to be able to make it in order to keep up with the consumer demand Enyart told the audience tuning in via the Zoom virtual meeting platform Indeed one of the more notable accomplishments of 2020 noted RVIA President Craig Kirby was that the industry was able to not only survive a pandemic that dictated a six week Kirby McArt ma n u f a c t u r i n g shutdown but emerged from it with an unprecedented recovery that shows no signs of letting up Even faced with continued challenges the resiliency of the industry was ever present Kirby said during his presidents report He went on to note a handful of RVIAs accomplishments during the year including Adopting a recommended best practices approach with regard to new model year changeover Requiring a Manufacturer Length Label on every new unit Enacting safety regulations for lithium batteries Partnering with the RV Dealers Association to help pass a Model Franchise Law Eliminating the maximum square footage requirement for fifth wheels And most notably helping pass the Great American Outdoors Act GAOA Noting that wholesale RV shipments are forecast to gain nearly 20 to 502582 units in 2021 after totaling an expected 423628 units in 2020 itself about a 17000 unit increase over 2019 Kirby said the industry has been blessed with an enormous influx of new buyers Buoyed by the inherent benefits of RVing as a safe way to recreate Kirby said 55 of recent RV sales were to first time buyers And of that he added the younger demographic is the fastest growing segment I feel strongly that what were seeing today is part of a long term growth trend Kirby mentioned At the same time Enyart noted the industry cannot take this influx of new buyers for granted If we want to keep this momentum we must continue to be vigilant in delivering a first class experience for RV buyers Enyart said adding that going forward he will spearhead the ongoing initiative to reduce the repair event cycle time RECT We were making great strides before COVID 19 and we were certainly impacted by supply chain issues accentuated by the pandemic Improvement in that area is paramount to our ongoing success A happy camper today can become a happy camper for life During her presentation Karen Redfern vice president of brand marketing for Go RVing provided an update on the industry wide marketing coalition which she said overcame huge obstacles two new agencies a new campaign and a new website all in the midst of a pandemic to spread the GoOnARealVacation 8 RVBusiness J A N U A R Y F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 message to more consumers than ever If our crystal ball had shown us what 2020 would bring we would not have launched two simultaneous agency searches But 2020 has also proved to be the right time to introduce Americans to the idea of RVing and the perfect time to launch a new campaign with a completely different look and feel Redfern said Go RVing was able to capitalize on the publics growing enchantment with RVing to result in some eye popping data she said The new campaign has over 166 billion impressions she said but the data that was perhaps the most amazing was this a 10 second video commercial on YouTube not only received 1485 million views but an astounding 42 of people watching the commercial clicked on it for more information Other segments of RVIAs annual meeting included reports from RVIA Board Treasurer Kevin McArt a general manager at Forest River Inc who said the association is in a solid equity position and RVTI Executive Director Curt Hemmeler who listed several accomplishments for the program now completing its second year of recruiting training and retaining service technicians to help reduce repair event cycle time and ultimately improve the RV consumer experience Hemmeler Its truly amazing how the RVTI team is so much further along in their strategic plan and well below their anticipated budget I might add than was even anticipated just a year ago Kirby noted Rick Kessler RVB