LaGrange (United States) (AFP)
The six or seven vehicles that come out of the assembly line of Riverside in rural Indiana look more like houses than cars, as the American workers are so careful to fix the wooden roofs, the fiberglass insulation, before covering everything with layers of pristine white paint.
The motorhomes have become in a few decades true emblems of the United States, of its seemingly endless roads. Moving houses, over-equipped, beds, showers, kitchens and even TVs ... which offer American families the luxury of discovering their vast country while retaining a certain comfort.
And in the middle of an election year, these devices also tell something about the country.
"Many people think that motorhomes are an economic indicator and this is the case in many ways," said Don Clark, CEO of Grand Design, the high-end manufacturer of these vehicles. "Because a motorhome is a hobby, not a necessity."
Americans only spend the tens of thousands of dollars they need to buy when they feel they can afford it. However, in the United States, voters generally tend to re-elect their president when the economy is good.
Approaching the presidential election in November, an AFP team crossed (though not in a motorhome) part of the country, to take the economic and political pulse of the states located between Washington and Iowa, where the first stage of the Democratic primaries will take place on February 3.
In northeast Indiana, at the heart of the motorhome industry, the verdict is rather positive for Donald Trump: the economy seems strong, although a little less than recently.
For Don Clark, the taxes imposed by the president on steel, aluminum and other essential materials for the design of these machines have "had a negative impact", but the sector is still preparing to celebrate its fourth best year since its inception in 1913.
- Not "records" -
"Has it collapsed?" Questions specialist Sherman Goldenberg about this industry. He is interviewed in the pantheon of Elkhart motorhomes, a museum where you can admire a famous Ford T from 1913 considered, with its folding dining table, as the first recreational vehicle.
"No, it did not plunge, but we are not breaking records either," he analyzes.
He estimates 400,000 the number of motorhomes delivered in 2019 and attributes this revitalization to the fashion of "glamping" - glamorous camping - popular with young people. The sector has so far been dominated by the elderly.
"I think the motorhome industry is still doing well," says Eric Sims, economist at Notre Dame University in South Bend, stronghold of presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, a few kilometers away.
But "things have calmed down a bit compared to three or four years ago," he nuances.
- Amish workforce -
The production of these machines often starts before dawn, to adapt to the schedules of the Amish, religious community known to lead a simple and austere life, and which constitutes more than 80% of the workforce of the factory Riverside.
Although driving these vehicles is contrary to their practices, these men with long beards and suspenders, and these women wearing a white cap come to the factory, before leaving by bicycle.
"A good job, well paid" for people with a college education, judges the manager of the factory, Mervin Lehman, the Amish used to quit school at the beginning of adolescence.
If the Amish community forbids the purchase of these vehicles, for other Americans the obstacle is rather financial.
Keith Hess, originally from Wisconsin, thinks he can afford this coveted vehicle in the next five years, for the sizable sum of $ 100,000.
Married for 38 years, he would like to be able to take a month or two with his wife to "cross the west coast to Alaska, to be able to be self-sufficient while traveling".
"In North America, we are very fortunate to be able to drive to many places," he says. "We can see many beautiful landscapes that God has created for us."
© 2020 AFP