RVBusiness, November/December 2018
With the understanding that added production capacity meant there likely would not be as along of a wait to receive units some dealers didnt feel the urgency to order as many units during the Elkhart RV Open House this year BY SHERMAN GOLDENBERG PHOTOS BY SHAWN SPENCE The North American RV Industry Comes Away from the Elkhart RV Open House with a Fairly Upbeat 19 Outlook I think whether youre a dealer manufacturer or supplier that the folks who plan and execute the best are going to do better than theyve ever done said Forest River Group General Manager Doug Gaeddert And its going to be that way for the foreseeable future T heres no better way to check the industrys pulse than strolling the aisles of the Elkhart RV Open House an 11 year old trade show held Sept 24 28 on the northeast side of the RV building center of Elkhart Ind that has become the industrys leading volume selling venue for manufacturers and dealers after the termination late last year of the RV Industry Associations venerable National RV Trade Show in Louisville Ky And when all was said and done this time around the industrys ongoing growth curve now in its ninth year seemed pretty much intact Indeed the industrys mood by and large was upbeat as Open House exhibitors closed up shop and thousands of dealer personnel returned to their respective hometowns throughout the U S and Canada Yet there was an air of caution of course as most industry observers seemed well aware of the varied headwinds facing American industry and the RV arena involving tariffs gas prices interest rates and stock prices as the RV sector works its way through excess field inventories that factored in to a couple of unsettling mid year shipment reports To get a better sense of what people are really thinking about 40 RVBusiness N O V E M B E R D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 the market without all the media noise in the background RVBusiness Publisher Sherm Goldenberg spent some time during the Elkhart RV Open House conducting random interviews with an array of industry people Heres the edited highlights of those conversations Winnebago Industries Inc President and CEO Mike Happe paused at the companys expansive Open House exhibit at Elkharts Six One Five Event Center for a quick assessment of his Forest City Iowa based firms status right now a time of rather extraordinary change for the traditional motorhome builder And one things for sure based on our rapid fire Open House interview Theres not a lot of dust settling these days around Forest City Under Happes watch for nearly three years now the traditional motorhome builder has been expanding its role in towable RVs and smaller Class B and C motorhomes and now specialty vehicles and the marine business with the surprising June acquisition of Florida based Chris Craft Corp Things are good at Winnebago said Happe a former Toro executive We have a lot of good things going on at the company 2019 Out look
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