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On vacation this summer, it’s popular to go small.
With gas more than $4 a gallon, lightweight travel campers have replaced heavier, gas-guzzling trailers as the preferred mode of outdoor living.
Jack Chalfin, sales manager at Coleman Sales & Service Inc. in Toledo, said he’s not surprised that his lighter, more aerodynamic models are fast sellers.
“That seems to be the thing right now with gas prices,” Chalfin said. “We’re definitely selling more lightweight pop-ups and travel trailers over the bigger trailers.”
The most popular models are the Travelstar by Starcraft, a 19-foot, 3,100-pound trailer that costs about $15,000, and the Fleetwood Yuma, a 10-foot, 1,500-pound pop-up at $7,000.
Large trailer sales are down 10 percent, while small pop-ups are up nearly 8 percent from last year, Chalfin said.
Two brands of large trailers that he carries cost more than $25,000, weigh about 7,000 pounds and extend to nearly 30 feet. Anything that size requires a three-quarter-ton truck – and a high expenditure of fuel – to haul it, Chalfin said.
Little Guy Worldwide LLC in Canton, Ohio, which specializes in ultra-lightweight campers, entered the market this year in response to high fuel costs and what the company felt was a missing niche in the marketplace.
