What does the future of the Caravan Industry Hold?
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- I’ve avoided the electric Vehicle discussion as it’s been done and will be done again,
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I’m talking about the future for the market, the manufactures, the dealers and what a customer will look like in the years to come.
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Well you're a bit more optimistic than me, I personally feel the caravan industry in the UK is on the way down. The manufacturers and dealers have been using customers as cash cows, the quality of what they build is utter tosh, should just be scrapped, dealers are just well!! One in south West charges for a PDI, what a joke. Some of the dealers you go to their stock are disgraceful, the should be good to go the day u look at it. Unfortunately it needs a major manufacturer to go bust, and a few big dealers to go to the wall and a major reset. It's no longer a cheap way to holiday, £30k for a van, that needs a challenger 2 to tow it. Warranties need to be done at any dealer. Dinosaurs died out after 60 million years, the caravan industry to me is a dinosaur industry, evolve or go extinct, enough said
Can’t argue with that logic. We do have to get back to basics are remember what caravanning is all about, making memories and getting away from the daily grind. The process of doing that shouldn’t add to the daily grind!
I agree. As long as we are getting squeezed with the cost of living and let’s face it prices aren’t going to come down the first thing to go is the luxuries in life so one can survive. Things will get worse before they are likely to improve and a lot of businesses will go bust.
All they make is the box, the chassis are all Al-ko where the engineering is. It’s not an interesting business for anyone.
On sites, sure there are cheap sites but they are rubbish. Like my wife said, if I wanted a view of caravans on both sides of me then we may as well have spent the weekend in the Aldi car park. Good sites with views cost a fortune.
I’m mid 30’s and been caravaning since my late 20’s as a family. I’ve recently just put deposit on my 3rd caravan (used) from a dealer. Ive noticed that there’s a lot of fixed beds which are no good for families and the typically affordable vans are too basic. I think manufacturers need to focus on more family layouts and maybe if they dropped mid range models and make the budget ranges look more attractive whilst keeping the high tech gadgets for the premium ranges and maybe subsidise the budget vans with the premium it might encourage more younger people to start the hobby.
Another honest review of how things are across the market, thanks very much again for your insight. I wish you good luck with your dealership and I've no doubt that this channel will bring you new customers.
Steve
Thanks, im trying to diversify, got an online course on how to buy a caravan, just struggling to get anyone to give me some advice on it..
I have just bought a eddis in May this year I love it. I had a bailey pegasus before we love it at first until the gypsy got hold of it. It got stolen by them, we got back with a lot damage. It got fixed but after that it didn't feel right. So we so happy with our new one. I hope eddis doesn't go bust. The problem is the new cars of electric they just can't pull the big 26ft long caravans. There need to be something soon as 2030 is soon around the clock. And lot of people think this. The cars also are getting to pricey now.
Very interesting video. We had been thinking about changing our caravan this year but have decided to hold off due to cost of living etc. We have a 2013 Lunar, fully paid for, it’s needed a bit of money spending on it this year but that’s done now and it should last us another couple of years easily. Despite people branding them leaky Lunars it’s bone dry and has been the best built caravan I’ve ever owned.
Personally I believe that the caravan market is strongly linked to the car market. Most modern cars can No longer tow a caravan… yes, I agree with you that caravans are not for everyone, but even for those people who want a caravan, things will change quite dramatically. A privately owned caravan may No longer be Towed behind a car, and the idea of towing your own home on the road wherever you want to go could die a slow death altogether, creating opportunities for let’s say “Tow & Pitch service” businesses, ripping people off of course, making caravanning More and more expensive, even beyond reach for many.
Love your blogs. Keep up the great work as it's good to listen and watch someone who comes across genuine and honest 👍 regards Jeff
Thanks. It’s nice to hear.
A very interesting and Honest review, thank you 👍🏻
My pleasure!
Another issue is modern houses with tiny drives , and cost of storage. Also the availability of tow cars moving forward. Maybe manufacturers could start looking at hybrids, like pop up caravans and trailer tents that use modern type inflatable tents to make lighter , more easily storable products that could be towed by modern 1.0l petrol cars .
These products only cater for a small hardier market, you’ve get to really want to buy into the whole experience with those. It’s not for the more comfort oriented consumer, they’d rather be in a hotel.
When we were looking for a house in the village where we live, one of the most important concerns apart from being near a pub was the ability to park a caravan. When we got the house but later wanted to extend it, a major consideration was an even bigger drive and an electric hook-up point so we could hook up as soon as we got home after a weekend away with the caravan.
It was good, during those extension works (effectively knocking off the roof and building a second floor with a new roof above that) we were able to use a previous caravan, full of furnishings & items from the house that we couldn't store in the smaller property we rented for 6 months while the building works were carried out. So we parked the caravan and its full load on a safe caravan storage site for 6 months.
The drive is now easily capable of parking the caravan and three cars. There's no way I'd consider moving to somewhere you couldn't park a caravan. Maybe a motorhome/campervan and cars, though ...
An informative and realistic look at what's going on.
Talking to fellow caravanners about the market, the trend seems to be hold onto what you have at the moment and save money, especially with the industry struggling with poor build quality.
If it's not broken, don't fix it 🤔.
Unfortunately, our local dealer does stock elddis and speaking to a salesman he has seen a decline in sales, and they are offering really big discounts.
Fingers crossed the industry, and dealers can see this through.
Paul.
Elddis are struggling at the moment. They laid off 45% of its workforce four months ago.
Yes, definitely not looking good. The industry will just reshape a bit it think and just shed the bits that are not viable, natural selection I suppose.
I am an Elddis owner and what sold it to us was the overall layout and internal features and colour, oh and the fact that is was 2” wider than others (8ft aside) which mean’t in night mode you can get around the transverse bed. However their build quality is poor, this gives them a bad reputation and their warranty costs will be very high, down to poor top management, Hymer will either put their own management in or get shut by the end of the year.
This is their biggest issue, being an owner you should be their biggest and best advocate of their brand, it’s just commercial suicide to have owners in your position not promoting them. It should be issue number 1 in any board meeting.
Thank you, another great video
Interesting vlog as always.
Are you not hot in that jumper? Agree about Eldis, I bought a new one back in 2017 from the NEC show. Had it less than a year, couldn’t wait to get rid, bits peeling off the walls and fixtures were poor workmanship, noisy heating, island bed was awful, dodgy fitted roof light, the list went on and on…. I ended up part exchanging it for a second hand Swift. I currently own a 2023 Bailey but it will most probably be the last Caravan I will ever buy.
I really appreciate you videos, I wrote on one about the site fees being expensive, I also went onto Facebook caravan pages and received some good advice from both your comment on here and the comments from actual caravanners re the Caravan Club sites (CL?) So we are still looking for a van, The choice for me is limited as I only have a 1.5 Diesel Qashqai which will tow 1400 kg apparently. Thanks again, you are part of my research and also very insightful and honest, if Atlantic Caravans was a bit closer to me I would definitely come and kick some tyres. Cheers Mike
No problem, if I can do my part,
For more information not on this channel, check out
www.myidealcaravan.co.uk/
I’ve noticed a lot of secondhand Lunars coming onto the market. My friend had a Lunar in for repair when they went into liquidation! Luckily it was repaired and they part-ex’d it and got a Bailey
I don’t touch the newer lunar’s just not worth the risk.
Really insightful and interesting again. I am also unconvinced with Elddis survival. I have been tracking the motorhome side of this and there has been a noticeable surplus and over supply of campers and motorhomes from Elddis - and as you say - pushed down onto the dealers to hold (on the finance lines) and there are some huge discounts on these. Agree - reset is definitely in motion. The thing that is worrying me is the future of the new caravans and motorhomes - shall we follow a trend of car manufacturers - with less dealers and more direct sites? Take Ford and Vauxhall/Stellantis how they have stripped back dealers and network - will we see more bigger groups like Marquis and Spinney - but ending up with eggs in one basket - how do you see this progressing?
Yes, I think as you said, there will be less dealers as the market shrinks. I don’t think the manufacturers will have direct sales, although I think it would be a good idea for them, but you can’t have direct sales as well as a dealer network.
The main problem for the caravan industry now is with this government no one will have any spare money for leasure.
Mark my words and please remember this message in October after the Budget 😮
And remember who got the country into this state. Growth is what's needed and you don't get growth by taking money away so it can't be spent.
Anyone under 45 was broke already.
Student loan. High housing cost. No pension.
I'm in the top 5% of earners. Can't afford a caravan or motorhome. The industry will die with the generation that rigged it.
Good take on short to medium term,long term is very sketchy,will EV’s be the death of MH and caravans?
I think the technology will get there, the one constant is that the advances in technology double every few years.
Great Video as usual but you missed the forthcoming Elephant in the room, the insistence that we all drive those stupid electric cars and the towing if indeed it can, charging and range issues that it brings with a caravan. I wouldn't want to go backwards to a little balsa box on wheels after years of touring Europe and covering maybe 400 + miles in a day. This i think will be a total killer for the caravan industry.
Yes, I stayed away from that topic as it’s one in itself. I think the technology will come along before we stop using diesel vehicles to enable the market the continue.
@@atlanticcaravansUK Good Morning, I don't think car technology will get there, it's being forced on us and people are realising that now and pushing back
@@garymcafee5995 that’s what technology does, it has to get better, especially when you have as much investment in a competitive market as the electric car industry, I’d not buy one for the foreseeable future, there is no alternative to my 3L Range Rover at the moment.
That was very interesting as usual. I think the sub 30 year old demographic is the one the industry needs to be thinking about. If the government continues on the proposed trajectory of hitting pensioners then there is no doubt they won't be in a position to buy caravans, certainly at the premium end, assuming they are the demographic trading up or buying outright from new.
I can see my daughters (23) generation looking to caravan holidays as a viable option.
@@atlanticcaravansUK Besides down sizing releasing cash, final salary pensions also released a chunk of tax free cash. These are slowly winding down except for govt. NHS and local govt. pensions. I also think pensioners are buying motorhomes as many don't fancy towing.
@@chrishall6745 yes, definitely, and like you said, that will stop before too long.
Looking at it another way, people who have more expensive holiday tastes (cruising) that want to slow the pace of that for the near future could look at getting a Caravan to explore the UK/Europe as a cheaper option.
I think there is a cross over between the two, but I also think that anyone who does like both will have already done it by now. The younger bigger more expensive holiday makers market I don’t think will see it as an option..
Im 40. Wish i could afford a caravan looks so much fun. Sadly i just can’t afford one xx
You don’t have to spend a fortune, especially if you have a hands on attitude, I’ve got a perfectly usable caravan on my yard for £1500!
Don't need 240? How am I going to heat the awning? 😉
Your optimism is appreciated although I think your videos are a bit biased as a caravan dealer. I can't agree with your assessment of cheap caravan sites. The cheap sites are the exception and are very hard to find. Majority of the sites are very expensive and putting a lot of people off caravanning.
I don’t know what makes you say that, Im pretty much saying Caravans are crap, I think that is a rather detrimental thing to say if I’m trying to sell them.. what would you say if a fair price per night?
@@atlanticcaravansUK I'm not criticising but actually totally agreeing to most points of your video except your statement that there's plenty of cheap sites to chose from. I don't agree with that and believe this is a major factor of caravan decline. I would say £25 would be a fair price for a fully serviced pitch. Unfortunately most parks charge around £45 per day. I won't compare UK site prices with France, Spain etc but over there prices are either a lot cheaper at £15-20 or you get a lot more facilities if paying £45/ day.
Picked up my challenger grande 650 2024. Lovely van reduced by 4k good deal but my part x wasnt worth as much. So swing and round abouts. Dearler seems to be ok, said they had picked up ex broadlane stock.
4k off, that’s cost price, I suppose there may be a bit in the PT EX.
I can't understand why nobody was interested in taking over lunar when the calamitous south African investment company bought it and balls-ed up.
IIRC Lunar had gone bust (in administration) when they were sold to the South African. It went nowhere from there because there was nothing left.
I often wonder what happened to them, I also told my Chinese connection that I thought they would go under before they did and that if there was any opportunity to get into to market over here it would be to buy them, but they didn’t have the funds.
@@steamdrivenandy6880 ahh, I did have a meeting with them not long after they took over, never saw them again.
My concern about dealers going out of business is what will happen to servicing/repairs/warranty work. It is already a long wait for dealers to have spaces to carry out work on caravans. Less
Dealers will lead to even longer waits?
Yes, this is the problem people don’t seem to realize, they may think the dealers deserve it because they made money after Covid, but it will affect everyone.
Is there any strategic industry-level cohesion with the different aspects that need to work together to build a future model for how caravans fit? It feels to me like we need a top to bottom review of the whole end-user experience with representatives from manufacturers, dealers, holiday sites, the lot. Buying a new expensive caravan in the last week has introduced me to what seems like a disjointed and disconnected experience. To my thinking, every opportunity to improve the customer experience (especially the low-cost/cost-free activities) can transform the buying experience. It would be a real shame if somebody doesn't put heads together and build a more sustainable end-to-end blueprint for the whole concept and instead simply individually competes its way to oblivion.
There was a body that all the manufacturers put money too a while ago, but it was more to promote caravanning as a concept. I suppose the caravan club is the go to place, but I think they have their own problems at the moment. Then there is the National Caravan Council. But they seem to be a behind the scenes type of organization. If there was to be something I think it would come from them. There certainly isn’t anyone speaking for the customers.
@@atlanticcaravansUK Thanks for responding. Maybe I'm being optimistic and perhaps unrealistic. It feels like the ongoing approach to keep selling caravans as units without improving the overall interconnectivity between the product and its use in the environment with competitive alternatives and economic uncertainty is a plan to fail. Or at least dwindle and fade away. There's no glue between the layers of manufacturers/dealers/customers/environment (camp sites and storage sites). Setting something up from scratch that has the ability to challenge and set direction as an industry-wide entity would be difficult but with the right investment and innovative minds could be the way to reinvigorate a package to encourage new consumers across the demographic. Rather than them having to navigate each separate step and overcome multiple obstacles along the way.
@@MotoGoYo I can see the vision and it would benefit everyone, but how it would earn money would be my first thought?
@@atlanticcaravansUK Revenue/funding models would need to be explored as part of an initial feasibility study. There are options - some may not be popular. It would require radical acceptance that something needs to be done and buy-in from key stakeholders that there are significant benefits to be gained medium to longer term. Couldn't be a flimsy superficial rendering of marketing but a more fundamental grass-roots re-build. My guess is that all the entities involved are impenetrably stuck in their own respective deep-groove and nobody would be up for the challenge or accept any fundamental change without insurmountable resistance. Or only start to accept it when it's too late to save it.
@@MotoGoYoyes, I think you’re spot on, even part of the system only concentrates on their own part of that system. A truly independent body would be good to be a go between the different elements, which I suppose I’m trying to partly achieve here with a route for the end user to tell the manufacturers the issues they have, whether they listen or not is another matter.
How can you still wear a jumper in this weather! Agree what your saying though for the market.
Yes, it was a bit warm to be fair, it wasn’t when I went in the caravan.
If Elddis was to go. ( I wouldn’t be Suprised). It potentially leaves a gap in the market for something new. Think Knaus need to start producing more uk specific caravans.
I’m not sure there is, I think if the market shrinks further 1 less manufacturer might be about right..
great video so i have jumped ship from a caravan to motorhome after some 50 years and do you kmow what its out of the Pan into the FIRE POOR BUILD AND QUALITY is the big thing as a buyer its a leisure vehicle but its become a vehicle thats spending more time back at the dealers SO I'M NOT ENJOYING IT ANYMORE so why shoud i invest my monmoney into POOR QUALITY AND LEAKY VAND
Yes unfortunately it’s a bigger ticket price and you end up with just as many if not more issues.
Disagree with the sites not being to blame, just came back from our annual tour to the same site we have visited for 12 years, which has good toilet blocks, and is fully serviced but this year cost us £93/night by the time you include the add ons. Whatever happened to paying for a pitch?? 11 nights cost us over £1k 😮 noticing the same the past couple of years with most sites, huge increases in pitch costs and greedy add ons. CMC prices are becoming ridiculous, to the point im thinking of not renewing my subscription this year 😢
Blimey that is a lot, I’m not saying it’s not an issue, just that there are sites not charging this kind of figure, you can pay £1000 a night in a hotel, or £35 per night, it depends on what you want out of the experience.
Will 2025 build quality be better if they slow down production speeds? (I'm guessing they'll lay staff off.)
That’s a good point, you’d think they could take their time a bit more..
Should I spend £77 k on a new IH camper 6m end lounge.
Love your channel...
There’s a question..
I said this would happen as people are not stupid a Touring caravan was a poor mans holiday you just overpriced Tourers & motorhomes you can purchase a static for same price as a Tourer and you can get a holiday abroard at cheaper than uk ime sitting on £30,000 a caravaner for over twenty years and dont know what to do any help in box me please.
Isn't the elephant in the room electric vehicles? I agree with all that you said, but another contributing factor must be the inability of electric vehicles to tow far enough for the holiday or even a weekend away? Sites need to install chargers as many hotels have done.
I think the technology will progress quickly enough to enable towing.
@@atlanticcaravansUK I do hope that you are right but there doesn’t appear to be anything on the horizon yet.
Someone was telling me about their Tesla model X getting only 100-150 miles when towing. This is from a high end car that costs as much as a small house. I do think manufacturers will get more out of the technology in time and the tech should filter down to the cheaper models but the main thing is infrastructure. We need service stations that allow you to pull in to bays with trailers / caravans attached and rapid charge. The problem is this is either going to need pushing by the government (at tax payers expense) or by the markets with more consumers adopting current EVs (even if they don’t tow / do the miles we’d like). The industry try needs more early adopters.
@@ashneedham definitely, just putting together a video on this, stay tuned..
@@atlanticcaravansUKbiggest issue with EVs isn’t range, it’s nose weight.
Was talking to my dealer last week and they mentioned they can't shift twin axles. I reminded him that the number of people with 7.5 ton licence is literally dying out. The manufacturers need to keep that in mind too.
The rules have changed back now, anyone can tow to 7.5 tonne, you don’t need a separate test to tow above 3.5T
@@atlanticcaravansUK- which is crazy as we need to apply to keep our C1 to drive our 3.8 tonne Motorhome at 70 hence our idea of switching to a caravan. Doesn’t seem sensible but little interest from government in a review.
@@14JemIt has been open to consultation last year.
Hi is a Adria colorado a good caravan to buy new?
Yep, if you like the styling, I’d say it would be a good way to go..