PREVIEW-Crisis to delay any rebound for RV makers
October 12th, 2008 | by admin |* What: Recreational vehicle earnings
* When: Oct. 13-17
* Big-ticket purchases walloped by credit crunch
* Plants close, jobs disappear
By James B. Kelleher
CHICAGO, Oct 12 (Reuters) – The outlook for recreationalvehicle manufacturers as earnings season gets underway thisweek is grim.
The collapse in credit markets and the recent precipitousdecline in stock prices will undoubtedly make it harder forconsumers to contemplate — let alone finance — the purchaseof a new motor home, yacht, motorcycle or snowmobile.
“Anything big-ticket discretionary — whether it’s avacation, whether it’s an RV, whether it’s a boat, it’s justoff the table right now,” said Hayley Wolff, an analyst atRochdale Securities. “It’s going to be a real rocky period forawhile.”
The trouble is that RV makers were struggling to cope withcrumbling sales long before the latest crisis unfolded asfalling home values and rising gasoline prices kept buyers outof their showrooms. For motorhome makers, the downturn in saleswas already in its fourth year before the current problemshit.