RV Makers Hit the Skids

It's fairly obvious that the market for recreational vehicles would be hurting in this environment. Americans can barely afford their real homes, much less their mobile ones. They aren't interested in buying American cars with four wheels so there's no reason to believe they'd jump at the chance to buy vehicles with eight of them.

But a report by TheDeal.com today brings new meaning to the term "speed bump." The RV industry is experiencing something closer to a dead end.

So far this year, three RV manufacturers have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy: Country Coach LLC on February 6, Monaco Coach Corp. on March 6, and Fleetwood Enterprises on March 10.

A fourth, Champion Homes, has been placed on Moody's "Bottom Rung" list, which includes companies most likely to default on their debt. And two others went bankrupt at the end of last year, although one has already managed to emerge from it.

The Oregonian recently reported on the effects of the troubled RV market on what it calls "the recreational vehicle capital of the West." Factories in the tiny towns of Junction City, Coburg, and Harrisburg have been quieted, unemployed workers have moved elsewhere, and unsold RVs line the area dealerships.

by Megan Barnett