Record-Setting Detroit RV Show a Good Sign for 2025? – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
For those looking for signs the RV industry is headed in the right direction this year, the 59th Annual Detroit RV & Camping Show featured great attendance, record sales and a general feeling of optimism that the retail market is on its way back.
Hosted by the Michigan Association of RVs & Campgrounds (MARVAC), the five-day show took place Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich. In addition to seminars, parts and accessories and campground exhibitors, the show featured about 400 RVs from: Bish’s RV, Blue Compass RV, Funtown RV, General RV, Holland Motor Homes, Kline’s RV, National RV, Price Right RV, TerryTown RV, Vacationland, Veurink’s RV, Vicars Trailer Sales and Woodland Airstream.
MARVAC President & CEO John Lindley said the show was “great” and he heard nothing but positive feedback.
“Over the course of the five days we had just over 21,000 people, which is over 500 people more than last year,” Lindley told RVBusiness. “So, the traffic was great with Sunday being the day where we had most same-day growth over last year. And most of the dealers I talked to were very happy with their sales, with multiple dealers saying they had record results.”
One of those record-setting dealers was Matt Veurink of Veurink’s RV Center, who agreed that the show was great, saying it tied the record for largest number of sales at that particular show.
“It was a record show for us, so we’re very happy – tired, but happy,” Veurink said, adding that no specific segment seemed to sell better than another. “It was a little bit of everything,” he said. “We sold a truck camper, some teardrops, the Vintage Cruiser did well, a couple of toy haulers and, of course, a bunch of travel trailers.”
He added that they gained a number of leads from the show, and people who didn’t pull the trigger at the event will be by this week to finish their purchases.
The show added to what has been an already string start to the year for his dealership, Veurink said, and it only fueled his optimistic forecast for the year. “It makes you feel like we’re on our way,” he acknowledged.
General RV Center CEO Loren Baidas also had positive feedback.
“The show was very well attended,” he told RVBusiness. “There’s a lot of interest in the RV lifestyle. Sales were strong and on the same pace as last year. The start of the year is very compatible to last year – although we have had some significant weather challenges in January this year in almost every market.”
Derek Kline, owner and general manager of Kline’s RV, said the traffic was good and the show was great.
“And I’d add that the buying intensity was definitely there,” Kline said. “If you include all the sales that are still in process, we probably had 20% more sales at the show than we did last year. I should also point out that only 30% of the buyers had a trade-in. Now, some of them are going to sell what they have on their own, but that’s still only about 40%. So, what that tells me is 60% of our buyers are either new to the lifestyle or coming back to it. These are all positive and good signs for what’s to come in 2025.”
