Jun 9, 2008 7:17 pm US/Central
High Gas Prices Hitting Boat, RV Sales
SHOREWOOD, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Motor home sales are declining due to soaring gas prices.
CBS
Gas prices have made getting to and from work or school difficult, but they're also hurting those gassing up motor homes, boats and other recreational vehicles.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports at $5 a gallon, it takes about $750 to fill up the Allegro bus, making it a pretty slow seller at Rick's RV Center in Shorewood.
"For the larger motor homes, it is a tough market," said Rick's general manager Jeff Pilon. "Like I said, the pool of buyers has definitely shrunk down."
And it's not just motor home sales that are being affected by the skyrocketing cost of fuel. Boat sales are also being squeezed.
Cathy Santogrossi of Fox Valley Marine said sales are down, but they have not plunged.
A study by Michigan State's Marine Research Center found that "1 percent of boat owners didn't plan to use their boat in 2008 due to the high cost of fuel."
But Santogrossi says boat owners will find a way to get on the water even if that means changing their habits a bit.
"They might not go fishing as often or go across the lake as many times, but they're definitely going out," Santogrossi said. "We just sold a 32; we just sold a trailer."
At Rick's, they're aware that nationally, motor home sales have been shrinking. So, they've adapted by focusing more on pop-up trailers and other lightweight trailers that don't use so many miles per gallon.
It's a shift in sales strategy that Pilon says is helping to keep his sales from going down as fuel costs continue to go up.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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