"For the past six months," reported Keystone President and CEO Ron Fenech, "we have made aggressive moves in our product designs and pricing. It appears that the result is strong market share gains for Keystone RV and our dealers."
These gains, according to Fenech, occurred across all product lines.
In the big picture, maintained Fenech, on behalf of the Thor Industries Inc. division, Keystone RV is in a kind of economic environment that plays into its hands as a high-volume, efficient manufacturer that can price and position products to "widen the gap on our competitors" at a time when some U.S. dealers are consolidating their product offerings.
"We intend to do all that we can to help our dealers gain even more market share in the coming year," he added.
Where are things headed from here in the general market?
Fenech thinks its going to be very competitive in 2008 because the industry has more capacity than buyers right now. "However," he added, "I do believe, unless something really changes in the marketplace from what we’re seeing today, that we will have a really solid year. I would say the market is a bit hesitant, but, generally, our dealers are pretty upbeat, with the exception of a couple of geographical areas — especially the Southwest.
"Clearly," he added, "Southern California is struggling right now. By the same token, the aggressive dealers who are going after the market and believe in themselves and their products are finding success. This is not a market where the success is going to come to you; you’ve got to go get it."
Questions like the ones below are covered in our RV Comparison Guides:
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