Thor Industries CEO Bob Martin recently discussed how overall RV sales are leveling off after a decade-long boom, posing challenges to Martin and his counterparts that they haven’t faced since the industry debacle during the Great Recession. And the marketing targets for brands such as Thor’s Airstream, Keystone, Entegra and Jayco vehicles are becoming broader, especially embracing the millennial generation that has become key to the industry’s future.
This story by Dale Buss originally appeared in the Chief Executive.
“Retail [sales] haven’t been incredible” Martin told Chief Executive. “So, we’re managing inventory and production in a cautious way. Dealers are feeling this year can be a flat year, which still would be very good. For ten years our industry has been on a growth spurt. … So we see a little slowing – we’re not looking at a major falloff, just kind of a slowing. And dealers are trying to stay healthy by getting their inventories in line.”
Throughout the winter, Martin said, Thor Industries remained “conservative” about its output awaiting the onset of the crucial spring retail season. “We’ve been trying to make sure we’re not pushing dealers to bring inventory” they don’t need yet.
“We’ve had weird weather this year, too,” Martin said, including the famed “polar vortex” in February and “strange” conditions in the Pacific Northwest. But now that spring has sprung, RV dealers “are optimistic and their inventories are coming more in line as they prepare for on-lot sales in April.”
