LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a long, bumpy ride, production of RVs has just about returned to where it was before the Great Recession put sales in the slow lane.

Overall recreational vehicle shipments from manufacturers to dealers — a key measure of consumer demand — are expected to increase 3.5 percent to 369,100 units in 2015, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association said today at the start of an industry trade show in Louisville.

Shipments are up for all kinds of RVs, from less-expensive towable ones to stand-alone motor homes, it said.

And the industry expects to ride the momentum into 2016, when total wholesale shipments are projected to reach 375,100. That would be the highest total since the pre-recessionary boom times a decade ago.

“We’ve come all the way back from the recession low to recover all that ground,” RVIA spokesman Kevin Broom said.

Shipments swelled to 384,400 RVs in 2005 and 390,500 in 2006, and were still strong at 353,400 units in 2007, the last year before sales tanked along with the economy. During the recession, sales plunged, plants closed and thousands of jobs were cut as orders for RVs dropped to their worse level in decades. Shipments sank to 165,700 in 2009, but have steadily risen every year since then.

“I really don’t see an end in sight,” said Derald Bontrager, president and CEO of RV manufacturer Jayco.

Indiana-based Jayco has expanded production space and added several hundred workers to keep pace with accelerating demand, Bontrager said.

Towables, attached to pickups or hitched to the back of another vehicle, account for about 85 percent of new RV shipments. Through October, towable shipments were up 4.9 percent for the year, while motor home shipments had risen 5.8 percent, the industry said.

Towables cost between $8,000 and $95,000, with an average price of about $29,000, according to RVIA. Stand-alone motor homes range from $45,000 to $1.5 million for the most luxurious, bus-like vehicles. The average price is about $128,000 for the amenity-filled moving homes.