Join the NASDAQ Community today and get free, instant access to portfolios, stock ratings, real-time alerts, and more! The market for recreational vehicles hit a ditch a few years ago as the financial crisis and recession reeled in credit and sent consumers on a mad dash away from big-ticket purchases.

The industry began to grind its way out of that mess in Today, manufacturers of RVs and RV components are enjoying their strongest growth in years thanks to a combination of better economic conditions, improved lending and new products.

Leading names such asThor Industries THO ,Winnebago Industries WGO andDrew Industries DW have all seen a recent rise in sales and earnings as the RV industry continues to recover from the beating it took in and The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, a Reston, Va.

That's up from , units in and well above the , units that were sold during the industry bottom in The current rebound is partly due to the natural business cycle.

Once an industry hits bottom, there's no place to go, theoretically, but up. You have better technology, more and different kinds of products, and different ways of building them. The industry has gotten another leg up from an expanded customer base that goes beyond the traditional RV demographic of retirees and empty nesters. Credit markets also have loosened up vs. RV dealers had a hard time getting financing to replace their inventory. That issue has improved considerably over the last year or so, he says.

More financing options are available to dealers, which means more product is available to consumers at the retail level. And those consumers are buying. In August, the most recent month data are available, RV wholesale shipments rose It was the strongest August total in five years. Among publicly traded companies, the two largest manufacturers of trailers, campers and mobile homes are Thor and Winnebago.

Thor is the bigger of the two. It makes towable RVs, with trailer brands including Airstream, Dutchmen, Crossroads and Heartland. The company distinguished itself by eking out a profit even during the darkest days of the industry downturn.

Winnebago had a rougher go of it during the recession. The company lost money in and , but has since recovered to post three straight years of black ink. Winnebago is the nation's leading manufacturer of motor homes, with its namesake Winnebago brand as well as the Itasca and Era brands.

The biggest development in the RV market over the past decade-and-a-half is the shift toward trailers, which are RVs that hitch to the back of other vehicles. Fifteen years ago trailers made up only half of the market, with much of the rest coming from motor homes. One reason trailers have come to dominate the RV market is that they are now light enough to be towed by family vehicles such as minivans and SUVs.

In years past, only heavy-duty pickup trucks could tow them.

Much of the recent technology in RVs has centered on making the vehicles more fuel efficient. Many motor homes now get 15 to 20 miles per gallon, up from an average of 11 to 12 miles per gallon a decade ago.

Meanwhile, the living space in RVs has gotten bigger thanks to smaller and more streamlined appliances.

Thor Industries, Winnebago Lead RV Sales Rebound - ykewobuzyjeca.web.fc2.com

The flat-screen TV can be attached to the wall, which creates more space. While the RV Industry Association expects RV shipments to rise 8. The economy will play a part in whether those projections are too high or too low.

For now, the prognosis is largely positive. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. Enter up to 25 symbols separated by commas or spaces in the text box below. These symbols will be available during your session for use on applicable pages.

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