RV News: Weather Limits Attendance at Florida SuperShow, Forest River Expands Luxury Van Efforts, and More
Another week has come and gone, which means it’s time for our Friday round-up of the latest happenings from the RV industry. Here are the most important things that went down over the past seven days:
- Forest River Acquires LA West Coaches to Expand Luxury Van Line: Remember OGV Luxury Coach? If not, don’t feel too bad. The Forest River-owned upscale brand may have fallen off your radar since its launch back in 2023. At the time, the idea was to bolster Forest River’s presence in the luxury space by building high-end bespoke camper vans. Well, it seems those efforts may get another shot in the arm after it was announced this week that the company is purchasing LA West Coaches, which operates in a similar space. No word yet on how the new acquisition will be folded into the mother ship, but it seems likely that the two Class B manufacturers will work in synchronicity with one another.
- Weather Impacts Attendance at Florida RV SuperShow: It’s been a couple of weeks since the Florida RV SuperShow came, and while there was an upbeat and optimistic toneat the event, attendance failed to match last year’s numbers. According to RV News, the 2025 edition saw 68,612 people pass through the gates, which is down from roughly 75,000 attendees in 2024. The primary reason was poor weather over the course of several days, with cool temperatures and heavy rain putting a damper on the festivities. Still, it was a very successful event with dozens of manufacturers on hand showing off their latest and greatest vehicles.
Photo Credit: welcomia/Getty
- 81.1 Million Americans Went Camping in 2024, Including 5.8 Million First-Timers: Online campsite discovery platform The Dyrt has released its 2025 Camping Report, and as always it is filled with lots of insightful information. Look for a steady stream of quotes, stats, and projections to come from this document in the days and weeks ahead. But for now, the most important takeaway is that more Americans than ever are going camping with 81.1 million saying they did so last year. What’s more, 5.8 million of them were first-timers. The data comes from polling Dyrt members, the general public, and campground managers, providing a true cross-section of people.
- Hipcamp Shares Industry Predictions for 2025: Hipcamp—a website for booking campsites online—has shared five bold predictions for the camping industry in 2025. Those predictions include demand for family glamping outings doubling in the year ahead and more people using their smartphone apps to make on-the-go bookings. The site also says more people will buy weather insurance to provide protection for their trips, agritourism will grow in popularity, and we’ll see a 60% increase in”astrotourism,” which involves traveling to see a solar eclipse, a comet, the aurora borealis, or some other celestial event. Read more here.
Photo Credit: DartSolar
- Solar Panel Manufacturer Building 2,000W Expandable Roof-Rack Model: If you’re looking to maximize the amount of solar power you can add to your rig, you may want to pay attention to what a company called DartSolar is up to. The tech start-up is developing an expandable panel designed to mount on the roof of an EV to provide electricity while traveling off-grid. According to our friends at RV Pro, the brand released a 1,000W model last year and is now working on doubling that capacity. That’s enough to add as much as 40 miles of range to an electric vehicle each and every day. When driving, the panel reduces itself in size to a 360W model, but continues to provide modest gains. While 2,000W is impressive, apparently DartSolar is already making a 3,000W version. Now, if only they would consider making something for the RV market.
- RV Women’s Alliance Launches New Nonprofit Foundation: This week, the RV Women’s Alliance (RVWA) announced it is launching a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the goal of further elevating, educating, and promoting women in the RV industry. The new foundation will include new educational programs and workshops, scholarship opportunities, a mentor program, and leadership development initiatives. Donations to the new RV Women’s Alliance Charitable Foundation are tax-deductible, of course, and allow donors to help further the careers and input of women throughout the industry.
And that’s a wrap for this week. Thanks for dropping by and be sure to visit next Friday for another rundown of the latest RV and camping news.
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