Action Picks Up as Skies Clear for Music City Motorhome Expo – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
By Travis O. Pryor
LEBANON, Tenn. – Open slots for test drives of motorhomes were a bit hard to come by Tuesday as customers with their eyes on potential buys took the early spots.
But that didn’t necessarily mean everyone attending the first Music City Motorhome Expo was buying.
In fact, in some cases, manufacturers were finding RVers deciding to hold on to their units they bought during the COVID years for which they paid a higher price that they were unable to justify for the trade-in prices they were finding.
Still, action was brisk at many of the sales tents at the National Indoor RV Centers-sponsored event being held just outside of Nashville.
And customers were finding, as promised, easy access to people who could either help them find the units they wanted to buy or else discuss ways to build a floorplan with the features they wanted.
“For us it’s been perfect,” said Newmar President Casey Tubman, who was in his company’s booth and quick to chat with those who stopped by. “For about two-thirds of the units people have looked at, they wanted changes. They wanted more batteries or to move a TV or get more cabinets.”
Tubman, who was drawing attention to the new-for-2025 Northern Star, even mentioned a Texas congressman who recently bought a coach, but insisted the floorplan include a bunkhouse and two full baths.
The Expo didn’t just offer customers access to current industry and company leaders.
Bob Tiffin, the 82-year-old retired president of Tiffin Motorhomes seemed happy to chat with anybody who stopped by the Bob Tiffin Limited Edition Bus at the company’s display.
Checking in at 45 feet, the coach was designed by grandson and current company leader Leigh Tiffin in recognition of the elder Tiffin’s 82nd birthday and only 82 of the coaches will be built.
Several items of personal interest to Tiffin are in the design of the unit, including the front bumper and grill of a Packard automobile.
“I’m not really here to sell anything this time. I’ve been doing that all my life,” Tiffin said.
He said he was excited about the strategy of the Expo, which features a limited clientele that paid $1,500 for a three-day pass to have access to the newest motorhomes on any manufacturer’s lot.
He credited the Expo as being one of the best ideas he has seen because it doesn’t bring in huge crowds that swarm the booths but brings in serious potential buyers who already have some skin in the game from the price of their ticket.
“I really think it’s the way of the future for the big dealers,” Tiffin said.
Tiffin encouraged anyone who is down about the current state of the industry by looking back at some of the darkest days in the late 1970s and early ’80s when the Arab oil embargo drove up historically low American gas prices and the economic policies of the Carter administration sent interest rates skyrocketing over 20%.
Tiffin said at one point he had to lay off his entire production staff except for supervisors to keep the company going but preserve the bottom line.
Little by little the situation improved, and the company was able to bring people back.
“I truly believe Ronald Reagan saved the RV industry,” Tiffin said. “We could use a man like Reagan again.”
Coverage of the Music City Motorhome Expo continues in tomorrow’s RVBusiness newsletter
