RV rebound is starting with more modest towable trailers

The comeback in the RV business is being led by something you could probably tow from behind your car. Lightweight trailers.

Reflecting people's simultaneous desire to get away from it all - and their diminished ability to pay a lot for the trip - sales of recreational trailers are improving nicely and giving a boost to a still-fragile recreational vehicle market.

"As opposed to a motor home, people are looking for something they can pull with vehicles they already own," said Dave Kelly, marketing director of the Florida RV Trade Association. "In the past, people had no problem going out and buying whatever vehicle they needed or wanted."

Starting today, the industry will put everything from tiny trailers to $2 million motor homes on display at its RV trade show at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Among them:

• Perhaps the least expensive trailer, an 8-foot Starcraft pop-up that retails for $8,600.

•A $45,000 Earthbound trailer, built with eco-friendly materials, plus several HDTVs.

• A $60,000 Airstream trailer, customized by Swiss Army watch maker Victorinox.

• A $2.2 million Prevost motor coach customized by Liberty with six Samsung HDTVs, king-size bed, and a Bosch washer and dryer set. One of the jumbo HDTVs slides out of the vehicle's side for outdoor viewing, right alongside an accessible wine cooler refrigerator.

To be sure, there are still $2 million motor homes for sale, such as the Prevost.

But sensing a shift in the market, more manufacturers are marketing low-profile, low-weight trailers as an energy-efficient option. More trailer manufacturers are ditching wood and instead using composites in structural parts and high-strength glues instead of heavy bolts to save weight.

Marion, Ind.-based Earthbound took a high-profile spot in the show, selling models that use recycled materials in the seating and are light enough to tow with a Jeep Cherokee. Some have enough solar panels on the roof to power the trailer for nine days or more in the wilderness.

Mobile home giant Winnebago is getting into the mix, buying trailer maker SunnyBrook RV to re-enter the trailer business after leaving it in 1983.

RV officials have long argued their industry works as a leading indicator of the economy's direction.

So far this year, RV sales are showing healthy signals. Overall RV shipments to dealers may have risen 43 percent in 2010 once final numbers are tallied, up from 2009's nearly 20-year low of 165,700.

At the worst of the downturn, 250,000 RV workers in the United States lost their jobs, according to the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. Since then, trailer and motor home maker Jayco has hired back 500 workers. Dutchmen has doubled its work force to 770. Winnebago had shed half its work force (about 1,670 workers) during the recession, but has added back 400 employees.

rmullins@tampatrib.com

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