Manufacturers cash in as caravan lovers boost the number of recreational vehicles on the road

Manufacturers cash in as caravan lovers boost the number of recreational vehicles on the road

Glen Norris, The Courier-Mail
June 8, 2019 5:00am

QUEENSLAND is riding the nations’s biggest caravan manufacturing boom in almost four decades with some of the most popular vans now made in the Sunshine State.

National production of recreational vehicles reached a 38-year-high of 23,000 last year, according to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia. More than 4000 of the vehicles were made in Queensland.

Sunshine Coast-based off-road caravan maker Bush Tracker is already banking on increased orders following the recent federal election. The company employs 55 people at its Kunda Park factory producing about 100 vans each year.

“It was a bit quiet prior to the election but after that it was like a tap was turned back on,” said Bush Tracker manager Matthew Kurvink on the sidelines of this week’s Queensland Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow at the Brisbane Showgrounds.

Queensland caravan manufacturing is set to beefed up even further this year following ASX-listed Apollo Tourism and Leisure’s acquisition of the iconic Fleetwood, Coromal and Windsor brands last year.


Production of Coromal and Windsor caravans at the Apollo’s factory in Northgate started in the second quarter of the year with several hundred of the vans expected to be sold this year. Apollo managing director Luke Trouchet said the acquisition of the brands would help boost the company’s profit margins.

The manufacturing boom comes as Queenland records the highest number of registered campervans, motorhomes, caravans and RV vehicles in the country. Helped by a boom in families keen for affordable caravan holidays and hipsters buying campervans more than 180,000 new recreational vehicles were registered here in 2018. Last year domestic travellers made about 2.68 million caravanning and camping trips to Queensland.

The Caravan Industry Association cautions that while demand for caravanning remained stronger than ever, manufacturing remained susceptible to economic conditions and dependent on consumer access to discretionary income. “These sectors are reliant on consumer confidence supported by a strong economy that encourages spending,” it said.

Mr Kurvink said that Queensland manufacturers had carved out a niche in the production of high-end off road vans. The typical Bush Tracker vans sells for between $130,000 and $180,000, mainly to so-called grey nomad retirees.

“Queensland has managed to focus more on high-end caravans whereas the mass market manufacturers are based down in Victoria,” he said. “This biggest difference for us is that all our vans are custom built. We have never built two vans that are exactly the same. Whether it is the layout, the size of the bed or cupboards every van is different.”

The Caravan Industry Association said the trend was towards longer caravans, with 61 per cent of towable recreational vehicles now longer than six metres, up from 59 per cent in 2017.

“People are expecting more stars with their accommodation,” said Mr Kurvink. “Twenty years ago it was common for vans not have a separate shower but now everyone expects a separate shower and toilet along the back.”


Apollo chief executive Luke Trouchet is ramping up caravan manufacturing. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

He said he was confident the industry would continue to grow but threats included an increase in cheap imports, especially at the lower end of the market. “Cheap imports have destroyed the Australian camper trailer market,” said Mr Kurvinck. “It is not effecting us too badly as we are at the high end but it will effect the more mass market stuff.”

The Caravan Industry Association said more than 9900 caravan trailers were imported into Australia last year valued at more than $114 million. A driving factor behind the increase was an increasing amount of Chinese imports following the signing of the Australian-China Free Trade Agreement which eliminated the 5 per cent tariff on Chinese caravan trailers.

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