Based on surveys of the major motorcoach manufacturers that sell vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, motorcoach sales from the participating manufacturers saw a sharp dive year over year, according to the American Bus Association Foundation’s third quarter 2020 Motorcoach Builder Survey.

Compared to the third quarter 2019 (Q319), the motorcoach coach sales in the third quarter of 2020 (Q320) fell nearly 50%. New vehicle sales in the over 45-feet vehicles fell 63.2% from 495 in Q319 to 182 in Q320. Vehicles between 30- to 40-feet fell by 96.2% down from 52 to 2. The only sector that saw moderate growth was the 40 to 45 foot vehicle group, which grew from 14 to 16 in Q320. The used vehicle market fell 11.3% percent from 221 vehicles in 2019 to 196 in the same quarter in 2020.

“All aspects of the motorcoach industry have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the manufacturing sector,” said Peter Pantuso, president of the ABA Foundation. “Industry owners are barely making ends meet as travel has come to a standstill in the United States. It is predicted that if the industry does not see some sort of relief from the government by the end of the year, between 40-50 percent of the industry will be out of business. This will flood the market with vehicles. It may take years for the entire industry to return back to 2019 levels.”