In this blog, we’ll cover the latest RV and travel data news. September 2026 RV production numbers are out, and we’ll cover the latest travel data so you can better gauge if it’s time to buy, sell, or hold an RV. Later in the news, we’ll look at Camping World’s difficult results. Are they a new warning sign for the industry?
RVIA Numbers
On October 26th, 2026, the RVIA posted the latest RV wholesale shipment data for September 2026. Production was down compared to the prior year, with 23,320 total RVs shipped in September, down by 2,364 or 9.2% year-over-year. September 2026 was the lowest production September since before 2016. Compared to Year-to-Date 2025 volume of 267,234, 2026 through September was down by 36,726 to 230,508, or down by 13.7%. September YTD was also the lowest since before 2016.
Travel trailer shipments decreased year-over-year, with 16,086 units shipped in September 2026, compared to 17,022 a year ago, representing a decrease of 936, or 5.5%. Travel trailers also had their lowest September on record since before 2016. Compared to Year-to-Date 2025 volume of 183,213, 2026 through September was down by 27,060 to 156,153, or down by 14.8%.
Motorhome shipments, which include Class A, B, and C motorhomes, were lower than in September 2025, with 2,653 units shipped versus 2,806 a year ago, a decrease of 153 or 5.5% year-over-year. Motorhomes had their second lowest September since 2016. Compared to Year-to-Date 2025 volume of 27,599, 2026 through September was up by 552 to 28,151, or up by 2.0%.
RV Trader
RVs for sale on RVTrader.com have held steady since last month, with 120,043 new RVs listed as of November 3rd, 2026. This is the same number as last month’s snapshot on September 30th. This time last year there were 127,955 new units for sale, so today’s count is down 7,912, or 6.2% from a year ago.
The number of used units for sale has increased since last month, with 76,224 used RVs for sale as of November 3rd, 2026. This compares to 75,449 last month, up by 775 units, or 1.0%. This time last year there were 86,850 used units for sale, so today’s count is down 10,626, or 12.2%, from a year ago.
Model Year Charts
Our model year chart shows that 2027’s model units are tracking lower than 2026’s as of week 36 on market but higher than both 2024 and 2025 vintages at week 36. To me, this says the industry is still overproducing 2027’s at this point. Given the number of used RVs in the market, there seems to be a crowding out of new units by used units for sale.
As a reminder, many but not all dealers advertise on RVTrader.com to sell inventory. It remains an excellent proxy for overall dealer inventory. You can follow my account on X at @JohnMarucci to receive weekly updates on this data.
TSA Passenger Data
Air travel hasn’t fallen off in the past month as some might expect given persistent higher fuel prices. October showed that the U.S. air traveler is resilient. Air travel for October was down vs. the prior year, but only slightly. 77,586,900 people traveled by air in October, down vs. 2025 by 1.5M or 1.9%, yet up vs 2024 by 1.3M or 1.6%. When you compare October to 2019 (pre-pandemic), passenger volume is up by 5.6M or 7.7%. This is the highest pre-pandemic difference since March of this year.
Year-to-date, passenger volumes continue to be off with 750.8M passengers traveling through October 2026, vs. 757.5M Y-T-D in 2025 and 754.8M Y-T-D in 2024.
The big four U.S. carriers, American, Delta, Southwest and United all showed large revenue increases in the past quarter over a year earlier with relatively flat passenger volume, and higher fuel prices eating into profits. The airlines signaled that fuel costs will continue to be a problem, and with airlines holding back seat capacity, could mean continued higher fares in 2027. Interestingly, passenger volumes remain steady, and percentage of seats filled is still robust, yet the increase in revenue due to higher ticket prices will quickly be consumed by higher fuel costs in 2027 if fuel prices don’t moderate soon.
BLS RV Manufacturing Labor Stats
The Bureau of Labor Statistics published the August 2026 manufacturing employment numbers for Elkhart County, Indiana. This is an indicator of RV manufacturing growth or decline. August 2026 manufacturing employment level increased slightly to 60,400, up from 60,000 in July and down from 61,600 in August 2025. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is forecasting that manufacturing employment will remain steady for September 2026.
AAA
Gas prices have decreased in the past month. According to AAA, the current average nationwide price as of November 3rd was $4.15 per gallon for regular unleaded, down 23.1 cents from a month ago and up about $1.11 from a year ago. An RV trip of 3,000 miles at 10 mpg would cost $1,245 now versus $911 a year ago, a 36.7% increase. Diesel prices have also decreased over the past month and currently stand at $6.29 per gallon, down about 7 cents versus a month ago and up about $2.61 from a year ago. A similar 3,000-mile trip, getting 12 mpg, would cost $1,572 now, compared to $920 a year ago, representing about a 71% increase.
The Latest RV Industry News
Canadian Tariffs
On October 30th the U.S. added 100 items to the 50% tariff list with Canada and removed 22 items. Many of the added items will affect what goes into building RVs, including caulks, vinyl, wood strips, cabinet and wall boards, MDF, and some wall and window air conditioners. Depending on sourcing, some RV manufacturers may see input prices rise accordingly. On the removed side, some thin plywoods, plastic films and packaging were removed from tariffs. There are no new tariffs on finished RVs coming from Canada, this only impacts what goes into making RVs. These changes are only from the U.S. side. Canada hasn’t made any changes to tariffs on U.S. products since September 8th.[1]
Camping World Quarterly Results
Camping World, the largest RV dealer in the country, reported quarterly earnings on November 2nd and it is safe to say that results were pretty much abysmal. As a reminder, we looked closely at this last month when discussing the huge gap in the listings of new RVs for sale on RV Trader. I speculated that the loss of 25k new units for eight weeks in the summer on RV Trader could only be attributed to Camping World deciding to stop advertising. In early September, the listings for new RVs rebounded suddenly, showing that a large dealer put that 25k of listings back on the system. My concern was that if this was Camping World, we would see it show up in the next quarterly earnings, and we just did.
Third quarter total revenue was down by 12.4%, with the sale of new units down by 25.4%. That is a huge drop in new unit sales vs. 3rd quarter 2025. The company actually sold more used RVs than new RVs for the quarter, at just over 17k used sold vs. the 15k new units sold. The other interesting item is the margin loss on new units of 2.5 basis points on average. Each new RV cost the company about 15% more vs same quarter last year but they were only able to sell them at a 11.7% higher price.
While dismal results, Camping World is executing a significant cost cutting program. Matt Wagner, the CEO of the company explained, “As signals emerged over the summer that new vehicle gross margins across the industry were likely to remain under greater pressure than we had anticipated, we moved swiftly to further optimize our cost structure. We accelerated elements of our previously announced $100 million efficiency program and implemented additional reductions amounting to over $50 million of anticipated incremental annualized savings.”
My Take
I think every CEO in the RV industry, and from many industries, has recently been faced with the same dilemma of increasing costs and the inability to raise prices to cover rising input costs. The result is deep cost cutting. For Camping World, the turn to selling more used units helps in this regard, but it also means fewer new units are being ordered from manufacturers, adding to the ongoing problem of low production. We keep tracking how this goes.
That should do it. All the best in your camping adventures!
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