RV Shipments Are Down 15%. Can F&I Carry the Gross?

The Direct Answer

Yes, RV dealer F&I per unit can carry more of the gross in a down-volume year, but only if every buyer sees every eligible product on every deal. The largest public RV retailer sold 16.4% fewer new units in Q2 2026 and still held its total F&I revenue flat by earning more per vehicle. You can copy the discipline without the scale.

How far are RV units falling in 2026?

RV wholesale shipments are on track for a mid-teens decline in 2026. The RV Industry Association's fall forecast puts 2026 at about 290,000 units, within a range of 284,600 to 295,400, and expects a flat 285,000 in 2027 (RVBusiness, Oct. 16, 2026). RVIA tied the drop to softer retail demand and “more conservative ordering by RV dealers.”

The monthly numbers agree. RVIA's September report shows 23,230 units shipped, down 9.2% from a year earlier, and 230,511 units year to date, down 13.7% (RVIA, September 2026). Towables, which make up most of the market, fell 9.7% for the month.

One bright spot: RVIA says retail registrations have outpaced wholesale shipments over the past 12 months. Buyers are still coming in. Stores are carrying leaner inventory, so every retail deal matters more.

What Camping World's numbers show about F&I

Camping World's Q2 2026 results show F&I holding steady while the front end shrank. New vehicle units fell 16.4% to 22,312, and new vehicle gross margin dropped to 10.9% from 13.8%. In the same quarter, F&I net revenue per vehicle rose 8.3%, from $4,412 to $4,780, and total F&I revenue was flat at about $201.7 million (Camping World Q2 2026 results, SEC).

Treat that as one data point, not an industry average. Camping World is one large public group with its own lenders and product mix, and its release does not say what drove the gain. The lesson is simpler: when units fell, F&I per unit had to rise to keep F&I gross level, and it did.

Industry data shows where the room is. Constellation Dealer Group found extended service contracts were sold on 37% of dealer-financed RV deals but only 10% of cash deals, with 2024 finance penetration at 62% (RV News, June 2025).

Where do RV stores lose F&I on tough deals?

Most F&I leaks happen before the menu opens. When a deal feels tight, the payment is high, or the customer is tired, the F&I manager makes a call about what to show. Products get skipped, and nobody records that they were skipped. We covered that pattern in why your F&I menu just skipped a product it should have sold.

A down-volume year makes this worse, because each skipped product is a larger share of the month. A strong sales month can hide it, as we noted in More Units, Less F&I Profit. A slow month exposes it.

The F&I-Per-Unit Worksheet

Use this to see what a per-unit change means at your volume. The example is illustrative: a store that sold 400 towables last year at $3,500 F&I per towable, the towable average Constellation Dealer Group reported for 2025 year to date.

In this example, the store needs about $618 more per unit, roughly 18%, to keep last year's F&I gross. For comparison, Camping World's per-vehicle gain in Q2 was $368. Run your own numbers, then decide whether the gap is closable with process or needs a front-end plan too.

Frequently asked questions

How can RV dealers protect gross when unit sales fall?

Protect F&I per unit first. Present every eligible product on every deal, track penetration by product, and review skipped products weekly (see the F&I KPIs most dealers don't track). Cutting price alone shrinks front-end gross further.

What is a good F&I income per unit for an RV dealer?

It depends on mix. Constellation Dealer Group reported 2025 year-to-date averages of about $7,500 per motorized unit and $3,500 per towable. Compare your store against its own trend, by unit type.

Do cash RV buyers buy F&I products?

Less often, but some do. Constellation found service contracts on 10% of cash deals versus 37% of financed deals. Cash buyers still deserve a full presentation.

What to do this week

1. Fill in the worksheet with your own A, B and C. Share line G with your F&I team.
2. Pull the last 20 delivered deals. Count how many showed every eligible product.
3. Split penetration by product and by financed versus cash. Find the one product with the biggest gap.
4. Write down who decides when a product is left off the menu, and require a reason.

When this doesn't apply

If your store mostly sells high-end motorhomes to cash buyers, service retention may matter more than F&I per unit. If your volume is holding, the urgency is lower. And raising product prices is not the same as a per-unit lift: keep pricing consistent and documented.

Where ODL fits

Consistency is the hard part, and it is where a digital menu helps. The ODL F&I menu presents products the same way on every deal and tracks what customers saw and chose, so skipped products show up in the numbers. Dealers using the ODL menu consistently on every deal have experienced 2x F&I grosses. Fast Lane connects that menu to the desk and credit app in one deal.

Watch an RV deal move from desk to F&I menu with every product presented, every time. See the Platform in Action.

About the author

Robert Ward is a Powersports Consultant at One Dealer Lane with six years of training and consulting experience with powersports dealers. Before powersports, he worked in the auto and software industries, building a process-driven background in improving dealership operations.

Sources

1. RVBusiness, “RV Shipments to Stabilize in '27 After Challenging '26” (Oct. 16, 2026)
2. RV Industry Association, “23,230 Shipments Recorded in September” (September 2026 report)
3. Camping World Holdings, Q2 2026 results, SEC Exhibit 99.1 (July 29, 2026)
4. RV News, “OPINION: F&I Sales Drive Dealership Success in Changing RV Market,” Don Miller, Constellation Dealer Group (June 1, 2025)