Rich Americans are rolling up for this 'retro' trailer at an eye-popping price

Most US recreational vehicles — better known simply as RVs, those behemoths of the roadway often resembling box cars that accidentally wandered off the rails — roll out of factories in the grey environs of Elkhart, Indiana, and aim to satisfy the wanderlust of largely middle-income customers.

Then there's the Bowlus, a very expensive travel trailer that can be towed by a Porsche sports car, no pickup truck required.

Produced in the beachfront community of Oxnard, California, the Bowlus breaks most of the RV norms with a curvy 1930s design that sweeps back to a pointed tail, a minimalist interior, and a price tag for its top-end model — at $310,000 (R5.8m) — that is equal to 80% of the cost of a typical single family home.

Bowlus shows that rich people really are different, at least when it comes to spending habits. Wealthy Americans have helped keep the US economy rolling even as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to curb inflation, spending heavily on cars, houses and travel.

Demand for the Bowlus surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, along with all RVs. But as RV sales skidded — shipments of travel trailers plunged nearly 40% last year as the health crisis eased, according to the RV Industry Association — Bowlus kept selling every trailer it could make.

Now the company is expanding by offering a lower-priced version and selling through dealerships for the first time.

When asked why her business held up while so many other producers struggled, Bowlus’ CEO Geneva Long said most factories had hiked production during the pandemic to an unsustainable level and were then stuck with parking lots full of unsold trailers when demand suddenly cooled. “We didn’t overproduce,” she said.

That would have been hard, as the factory only has room for 10 trailers on its main assembly line.

The company won't discuss its financials, other than to say it plans to make 100 trailers this year — and then “expand every year while holding quality”, said Long.

Creating them is slow and painstaking. Bowlus’ 35 workers hand fashion the cabinetry, sew the seats from a hi-tech Japanese fabric, and hand rivet and polish the aluminium. The result is a trailer that lacks many of the amenities sought after in other expensive RVs, such as spacious bathrooms or walls that slide out to create larger interior spaces.

Long said her customers appreciate the simplicity and quality of her product. She's also a bit of purist about camping culture — even the $310,000 model doesn't come with a TV. However they plan to offer that as an option on all trailers going forward.

“People who buy a Bowlus are the same people who buy aeroplanes, so it’s a mindset,” she said.

'ICONIC, LIKE THE COKE BOTTLE'

NOT ALONE

Bowlus is also part of a growing niche of smaller producers as well as old-line manufacturers that are developing new battery-powered trailers.

Aero Build, in Nashville, Tennessee, has started selling 6.4m-long trailers with solar panels covering the roof. Like the Bowlus, it’s aimed at wealthier buyers. “We spare no expense on fit and finishes,” said CEO Brian Fuente. “Everything down to the frame is designed to last generations.” The price tag? $129,900 (R2.4m).

Another start-up, called Pebble, is developing a trailer powered by batteries that also help propel it down the highway, which increases the range of the vehicle pulling it. One of the concerns with traditional RVs is that their heavy weight degrades the range of EVs as towing vehicles.

The Pebble starts at about $109,000 (R2m), while Bowlus’s new, slightly shorter model lists for $165,000 (R3m).

“The question we’re all trying to answer is, 'What is the market for a high-end product like this?’ ” said John North, CEO of Lazydays RV, which operates 25 dealerships across the US and which just started offering Bowlus in five of them.

“We've had a number of customers interested,” he said, but, less than two months in, he's still waiting for his first sale.

Reuters