Shortage of Class A motorhome chassis easing as Ford ramps up production

Ford is the sole provider of gas Class A chassis for the RV market, but the recent shortage of chassis due to increasing RV sales appears to be lifting says Sherman Goldenberg in a post on the blog RVBusiness, " . . .  all of which potentially could unleash further growth beyond the impressive shipment numbers already posted for the year with Class A shipments up 32.2% through October, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA)."

“I think we’ve done a good job of getting our capacity up and we’re in a much better place than we were a year ago,” Goldenberg quotes Len DeLuca, Ford's director of commercial vehicles. “As a matter of fact, between Class C and Class A, we’ve built 40-ish percent more for this industry than we did a year ago. Between the E-series at Ohio and F53 Class A at Detroit Chassis, we’ve actually built around 40% more.

“And the market itself between those two segments is up about 33%,” he added, “so our production has been outpacing (demand), which is good because there’s obviously been a huge void there — a big backorder.

“But the growth (in demand for motorhome chassis), to me, hasn’t slowed down, and I’m surprised by that. I thought that that huge surge we saw last year, the last six months (of 2012), would fall off a little bit,” DeLuca told RVBUSINESS.com.

“But it hasn’t; it’s been very constant. So it’s been very consistent this year, and as we go into the first quarter of next year, we’ll be pretty much spot-on with what the builders are asking for, for their chassis requirements. We’ll be close to getting them what they need, particularly in Class A.”

This could result in a greater supply of Class A motorhomes hitting the market in 2014, a clear benefit to potential Class A buyers as dealers will be chasing buyers instead of buyers competing for a short supply. And that could mean lower prices as well as a greater number of choices.