The recreational vehicle industry continued on a path of strong growth in 2016, with shipments of new RVs surpassing 400,000 for the first time since the industry began reliably tracking that particular statistic in 1978.
“We expected it to be a good year, but we were pleasantly surprised it was this good,” said Kevin Broom with the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association.
But a tight labor market threatens future growth, with manufacturers finding it harder and harder to fill open positions because of a lack of qualified job candidates.
Shipments of new RVs, including towables and motor homes, reached 430,691 last year, up 15.1 percent compared with the previous year and 62 percent since the height of the Great Recession.
Shipments of towable units, the majority of production, increased 15 percent, to 375,950. Shipments of motor homes grew 15.7 percent, to 54,741.
This marks the seventh straight year of growth for the industry, the longest stretch on record, and the fourth year of double-digit percentage growth in the past five years.
Early projections point to another strong year in 2017, Broom said.