WASHINGTON D.C — While the highlight of the first day of RVs Move America Week was undoubtedly the RVs Move America Economic Impact study, the first day of the RV Industry Association (RVIA) event also included nine committee meetings that took place at the Mayflower Hotel.
Indeed, meeting on Monday were the following committees: Standards Steering, RV Aftermarket, Go RVing Board & Coalition, Market Information, Park Model RV, Government Affairs, Financial Services, and Public Relations.
What follows are summaries of several of those committee meetings.
• Members of the Market Information Committee spent a considerable amount of discussion on the wholesale shipments forecast that was released that day, which projects a range of 300,00 to 328,100 units with a median of 314,000 units (see: “RVIA’s New Wholesale Shipment Outlook Reflects Soft Demand”). That median total would be an 8.2% decrease from the 342,200 units shipped last year.
While most members agreed with that forecast, there were some who felt the numbers will be difficult to achieve unless the macroeconomic headwinds dissipate.
Committee chairman Jeff Rodino, president of Patrick Industries, said he appreciated the discussion as it offers a real-world perspective to complement the data analysis provided by ITR Economists.
“I’ve been really appreciative of the committee and other representatives from the RVIA membership that have given us feedback on really what’s going on out in the real world, not just what we’re hearing from the economists,” Rodino told RVBusiness. “I think that’s been a really good blend to get us to the number that we’re at now, understanding of what’s going on in the market from the dealers and the retail through the OEMs and the suppliers. We’re really appreciative to see how people have really stepped up to put that information out there so we can make a more informed decision from RVIA on what those numbers look like for the year.”
Rodino added that the Market Information Committee is very deliberate in affirming its projections because they fully realize what’s at stake.
“Absolutely we take it seriously because for all of the membership that aren’t in that room, a lot of them are relying on some of this information on how they want to plan their businesses,” he said. “So, yes, it’s a serious thing that we’ve got to look at and understand. We get a lot of economic information that seems like it should equate to what is going on and that’s not always the case.”
• The RV Aftermarket Committee also had a robust discussion on the state of the market, but committee chairman John Tinghitella of RV Designer singled out the conversation on the Aftermarket Conference.
The annual event has been going on for decades, and last year it was dubbed Aftermarket Conference 2.0 as, for the first time, certain dealer groups were invited to attend. This year’s conference, which is Aug. 10-13 at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Fla., will feature the same format.
“As you know, the Aftermarket Conference is our signature event that occurs every year in which we bring close to 200 people together for four days of networking, private meetings, large group meetings, fireside chat, and miscellaneous get-togethers,” Tinghitella told RVBusiness. “It’s an extremely valuable event for the supply community, distributors and a group of eight to 10 select dealer guests. We implemented this concept last year, and it was received very well as we got a 90%-plus rating in our after-event survey. So, we’re going to continue on with the evolution of the event.
“In addition to that,” he continued, “we reviewed some key aspects of our consumer outreach task force that relates to training videos associated with helping the consumer do a better job getting started, and also some deeper dives into selected activities within the RV related to important parts and accessories.
“We also gave an overview of what the aftermarket group is, with an emphasis on ‘after’ the consumer becomes an RVer and how we participate in that wholesale cycle,” Tinghitella added. “Additionally, we discussed advocacy issues coming up related to how this week’s going to shake out related to De Minimis, tariffs, consumer uncertainty, etc. As you know, this is a significant issue as the aftermarket suppliers are fighting an ongoing battle to maintain the integrity of source of supply.”
• It so happens that the industry finds itself at the end of a code cycle, so the Standards Steering Committee agenda wasn’t nearly as jam-packed as it normally would be. That said, there was still the matter of the Grounding Monitor Interrupters (GMI) that — pending approval of the RVIA Board of Directors — will be a required component of all 2028 model year RVs.
“The other portion of that is then the task force — which is coming from the Electrical Technical Subcommittee that’s following through on the GMI process — will now propose what we would feel from an industry education, or unit identification, so people can easily recognize that their unit has a GMI or not,” committee chairman Dave Mihalick of THOR Industries told RVBusiness.
“That is in its infancy. We were waiting for this to finally figure out when we were going to adopt it, but that’ll be the next phase of the GMI saga.”
In addition, Mihalick said the other big thing that happened during the committee meeting was the “changing of the guard” with respect to the committee’s seven subcommittees.
“Since this is a new start of a new code cycle, we have a whole array of brand new subcommittee chairs for every technical subcommittee,” he said. “They all reported for the first time in a standard steering committee about their committee, and we congratulated the outgoing technical subcommittee chairmen. There’s a lot of years of experience that have left. A lot of them still involved with the standards community, but there are now new chairmen in the technical subcommittees. That was a big transition, and we’re excited to have all these new people coming on and getting involved and invigorated in the standard side of the RV space.”
• The Public Relations Committee and audience members spent a great deal of time discussing best practices and strategies for garnering positive media coverage – and what might be done in dealing with negative reports.
In addition, it was announced that RVIA was looking to develop a week-long virtual event designed to showcase the industry’s commitment to safety. While the project is still early on, officials are hoping to launch the inaugural event sometime later this year,
Committee chairman Trey Miller of the Jayco Family of Brands said for him the highlight was people’s willingness to share their best practices.
“It was addressing so many different things — from different tactics that people are using that they’re finding really good results, to ways to amplify the PR efforts of the industry association, of Go RVing, on how to earn more, on also how to utilize social media,” he told RVBusiness. “We even got into discussions on AI and AI-optimizing different stories, to ensure that we’re keeping on the cutting edge of all the different tactics.”
“Overall,” Miller continued, “I think we had really good feedback from many people, not only committee members, but lively conversation from the guests that were in the room — and it was almost a packed house.”
• The Go RVing Coalition meeting offered an opportunity for officials to reinforce the campaign’s mission, and the success it’s had in accomplishing that objective.
Go RVing’s mission, said Jeremy Greene of the RV Industry Association, is to exist at the top of the sales funnel and attract people to the RV lifestyle, which he said was meant to “build the category.” The marketing done by OEMs is to convert those people into buyers of their respective brands. As such, he said, Go RVing and OEM marketing are complementary and equally vital, yet different.
“OEM marketing answers the questions of ‘Why this brand?’ and ‘Why now?’ Go RVing answers the queston of Why Go RVing at all?’” he said. “And the beauty of it is we know it works; 72% of RVers said lifestyle and outdoor content influenced their purchase decision.”
For their part, Go RVing co-chairs Renee Jones of THOR Industries and Mike Regan of Crestview RV told RVBusiness they appreciated the distinction between brand marketing and category marketing.
“I think we’re looking at this in a down year, and we’re looking at it through the lens of ‘we don’t have as much money to spend.’ We need to be a little more laser focused with what we’re spending and we’re searching for,” he said. “I mean, the new goal is to target marketing for category, not necessarily brand advertising. I like the way Jeremy put it is that we’re going for category. We want to increase the number of RVers and get more people coming to the RV lifestyle.”
Jones said she appreciated having Go RVing Canada officials on hand to outline their marketing campaigns, and how their efforts are in sync with the U.S.-based messaging.
“I think it’s really exciting that everyone’s aligned across North America in both the U.S. and Canada to make sure that we’re targeting people who have shown interest, but also don’t even know how great RVing is and that it’s the answer for them,” she said. “As we continue to navigate these difficult times, we do know that there’s a positivity and a lot of opportunity ahead, and that we’re all working together to make sure that we focus on that.”
RVs Move America Week continues today with additional committee meetings, including RVIA/RVDA Executive Committee, Lawyers Committee, Member & Supplier Committee, Workplace Safety Committee, RVDA Board meeting, and the Campground Coalition. In addition, there will be a meeting with the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), before the event shifts into training for Wednesday’s Advocacy Day, in which participants will lobby members of Congress and federal agencies on matters important to the RV industry.
