SIC 3792 Travel Trailers and Campers

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• WORKFORCE.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 3792

This industry consists of establishments primarily engaged in the manufacture of travel trailers and chassis and campers for attachment to motor vehicles, pick-up coaches and caps, covers and canopies for mounting on pick-up trucks, and tent camping trailers. This classification includes travel trailers of up to 35 feet long and 8 feet wide (with storage facilities for waste and water), but excludes mobile home manufacturers. Mobile home manufacturers are classified in SIC 3716: Motor Homes.

NAICS CODE(S)

336214

Travel Trailer and Camper Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

In the mid-2000s approximately 800 U.S. establishments were involved in this industry. Most were private subsidiaries of companies that manufacture a range of recreational vehicles. Manufacturers of trailers and campers often incorporate chassis made elsewhere into their products; these chassis are produced by large automakers such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.

Several factors contributed to the sale of travel trailers and campers, resulting in a modest growth during the first half of the 2000s. The popularity of outdoor recreation, particularly with the Baby Boomer generation as they approached retirement age, boosted recreational vehicle sales. Although sales dipped slightly during the recessive economy of the early 2000s, renewed consumer confidence bumped shipment values to $6.73 billion by 2003, up from $6.23 billion in 2000. Growth continued into 2004, with unit sales increasing from 198,909 units in 2003 to 225,058 units—a 13 percent increase.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Travel trailers and pick-up cabs were introduced in the early 1930s, with camper attachments entering the market in the late 1940s. The emergence of mobile homes, also in the late 1940s, shifted manufacturers' emphasis away from travel trailers and camper attachments. While mobile homes dominated the recreational vehicle market in the 1950s and 1960s, the market for travel trailers and camper attachments continued to grow.

The economic recessions of the 1970s and 1980s dramatically reduced sales and manufacturing in this industry. Also during that time, some travel trailer and chassis producers were negatively affected by product recalls; at one point, over 10,000 units of small mobile homes attached to Toyota pick-up truck chassis were recalled.

Because the recreational...