American RV Sales at All Time High

Figures from the University of Michigan showed late last week that sales of American RVs are at an all time high. At present it’s estimated that one in twelve American residents owns an RV, or something similar. Given the economic climate in the USA at the moment, this is a quite remarkable statistic. Could the same success carry over to the UK and will we start to see sales of RVs gaining on motorhomes?

RVs versus Motorhomes

America is vastly different to the UK and for a lot of people an RV just wouldn’t be practical. There’s no way an RV could tackle the lanes of Cornwall or the car parks of Blackpool – they’re simply just too big. Though there are RV owners in the UK, RVs are definitely more suited to US highways than English roads.

Additional Costs

Equally, the cost of motorhome insurance, fuel and road tax in the UK is a little more burdensome than in the USA. Running a coach-built motorhome isn’t too expensive year on year, but gas guzzling RVs certainly don’t make for cheap holidays away. The RV market in the US is much more able to absorb the sorts of running costs associated with RVs in the States, here it’s unlikely that the customers are out there.

Imports and Exports

On top of all of this, RVs tend to be manufactured in the USA and motorhomes are European. Importing from America is considerably more expensive than from the EU and the already prohibitive prices of some of the top RV brands just don’t translate well into British Pounds. Specialist importers are doing the job at the moment, but for many there’s much better value to be had from a traditional motorhome.

It’s great news that RV sales in the USA are at quite such a high and though we may not see the trend over here in the UK, it does mean that general interest in motorhomes is still good and, regardless of the type or the build, people are interested in buying motor caravans.