JACKSON CENTER, Ohio, May 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Thor Industries announced today preliminary sales for the quarter and 9 months ended April 30, 2008.
Sales in the quarter were $707 million, down 10% from the $790 million last year. RV sales were $600 million, down 12% from $684 million last year. Bus sales were a record $107 million, up 1% from $106 million last year.
Sales in the 9 months were $2.07 billion, down 1% from $2.1 billion last year. RV sales were $1.77 billion, down 2% from $1.81 billion last year. Bus sales were a record $300 million, up 3% from $291 million last year.
Backlog on April 30, 2008 was $526 million, down 11% from $593 million last year. RV backlog was $276 million, down 27% from $378 million last year. Towables backlog was $198 million, down from $267 million last year. Motor home backlog was $78 million, down from $111 million last year. Bus backlog was $250 million, up 16% from $215 million last year.
Thor is the world's largest manufacturer of recreation vehicles and a major builder of commercial buses.
This release includes certain statements that are "forward looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. These forward looking statements involve uncertainties and risks. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from our expectations. Factors which could cause materially different results include, among others, additional issues that may arise in connection with the findings of the completed investigation of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of Thor Industries, Inc. (the "Company") and the SEC's requests for additional information, fuel prices, fuel availability, interest rate increases, increased material costs, the success of new product introductions, the pace of acquisitions, cost structure improvements, the impact of the recent auction market failures on our liquidity, competition and general economic conditions and the other risks and uncertainties discussed more fully in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2007 and Part II, Item 1A of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2008. The company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any change in expectation of the Company after the date hereof or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based except as required by law.