The news that an RV dealership is displaying its wares at a show in January might draw a collective “humph.”
That is until you realize the show is the Washington D.C., Auto Show, which will run through Feb. 1 at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center.
Leo’s Vacation Center of Gambrills, Md., is testing the waters after being contacted by the RV Dealers Association (RVDA) about the possibilities offered by the show.
The big draws of the show are classic car displays, exotic cars such as Bugatti, standard autos in the On the Go Hall, a Performance Hall full of speed and power and even a commercial truck display.
The show had added a Get Outdoors Pavilion this year offering eco-friendly transportation with Strictly Ebikes, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Explorer Van Company premium conversion vans in addition to the Leo’s display.
“I thought it would be good publicity for us and the industry across the board,” Leo’s General Manager Bob Wilson told RVBusiness. “That is a really well-attended auto show with a tremendous amount of people. Our sales people were there starting Friday and the amount of traffic they were seeing was tremendous.”
Wilson said Leo’s is filling about 2,000 square feet at the show and received a full-page ad in the brochure attendees receive.
Leo’s brought two Class B vans, a Class C and three smaller trailers to try to give visitors a variety of options to look at.
“It’s amazing how many people have never seen an RV before,” Wilson said. “We had some who said they had an RV and they knew where we were located, but the vast majority had never seen an RV and had no idea what they cost. They were shocked at how inexpensive they were in relation to what some fancy cars cost.”
Attendance was down on Sunday due to the major snowstorm that was hitting the entire country, but the show runs nine days, finishing up Feb. 1, so there should still be plenty of potential customers coming through.
Wilson said he believes the show will pay off for Leo’s once things settle down in D.C.
“We’re planting the seed for more exposure,” he said. “A lot of people in this area are government workers and they’re very concerned about government shutdowns. Until the government gets their stuff in order I think it’s going to hurt disposable income. I have a lot of friends who are car dealers and they are saying the same thing – people are afraid to buy cars because they don’t know if they’ll have a job.”
