RVBusiness, November/December 2018

Hylands anticipating 29 GDP growth this year 28 next year So thats going well he continued Certainly weve got to be concerned about whats going on with all the media noise out there as well as tariffs and things like that The trade situation with China also creates uncertainty Weve got to pay attention to all that But outside of that things are going fairly well And looking ahead were expecting maybe another two quarter point interest rate bumps before the end of the year maybe three next year But again thats kind of expected as they try to stay ahead of inflation inflations around 25 by the end of the year As Fresno Calif based RV Country also pares down its standing inventories the nine store dealership previously known as Paul Everts RV Country is having a good year financially speaking especially on the towable side observed President Curt Curtis If theres a negative out there where were having the worst time would be in the motorized side particularly the higher end said Curtis Were typically a pretty good player in that market but on the West Coast were just not seeing the same buying activity in that 150000 plus price point Its gotten really tough And motorhomes in general I think are soft At least in our markets were not doing as well as we used to Towables and fifth wheels are still just really really strong I think some of it is that the newer buyer isnt necessarily looking for that big motorhome Curtis told RVB Theyre tending to go smaller and I think thats having some effect And a lot of the people that used to buy bigger sized stuff are getting older getting out of the market and or are downsizing too I dont know if its going to carry on that way I wish I had a crystal ball but the big motors definitely are soft That said Curtis is expecting a good 2019 Were going to get smarter about our products because the interest rates have gone up he noted So our flooring costs are up and we dont want to have a candy store like weve been able to have in the past because interest rates were so low it didnt really matter We werent paying that much in flooring Year to date weve experienced record retail and thats 44 RVBusiness N O V E M B E R D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 coming off a phenomenal record year in 2017 reported Gulf Stream Coach Inc President Phil Savari Now there was a little bit of a slow down in July and August but its picking back up The magic for dealers right now insisted Savari who was promoted in January to president of the Nappanee Ind RV builder is to have the right products on hand And contrary to word on the street he maintained most of the dealers at the Open House said their inventories were low So I think its going to be a strong fourth quarter added Savari In talking with a lot of dealers earlier in the year they felt that they had gotten jammed late last winter by a lot of competitors products But I want to tell you 95 of the dealers I talked to are up and are optimistic about the future People have gotten pay raises There have been tax cuts People have more money in their pockets Consumer confidence is up Dealers are making a very healthy profit and are reinvesting and buying up other dealerships other parcels of land to continue Making the rounds of several Open House exhibits Tim Veurink owner of Veurinks RV Center a Grand Rapids Mich dealership specializing in KZ towables and REV Recreation Groups Holiday Rambler motorhome line expects this years fourth quarter to match 2017 s solid fourth quarter results for his dealership And hes looking for a decent performance in the first quarter of 2019 given a little break in the weather compared to last year Yeah we got spoiled with some fast 12 to 14 growth in recent years said Veurink who was again named an RVBusiness Top 50 Dealer for 2018 Were not expecting to see that again But we do think we can trudge through it more moderate sales Naturally interest rates are up a little 2019 Out look Most agreed that although dealer orders were not as aggressive in terms of volume at the 2018 Elkhart RV Open House as they were in previous years the continued strength of retail demand was ample reason to remain optimistic Curt Curtis Phil Savari Tim Veurink