A New Age for caravan dealerships

A flagship New Age Caravans dealership has opened in south-western Sydney, promising customers a modern luxury car-like caravan purchase and service/parts experience as well as the choice of up to 100 new caravans on display.

The 13,500 square-metre New Age Sydney site, on the car-yard strip at 260 Hume Highway, Lansvale, boasts an expansive showroom, large customer waiting area and separate service and accident repair workshops.

With 23 full-time staff it's said to be the largest of New Age’s 10 dealerships nationwide, and boasts features you might normally see in a luxury car dealership including a high ceiling, contemporary showroom incorporating a children’s playroom, and customer waiting lounge with coffee machine, wi-fi and TV.

There's also a separate interior fit-out/colour/material choice area and a large interactive screen for viewing the entire New Age range.

The separate service reception and workshop area has state-of-the-art equipment, including scissor hoists for express servicing as well as ramp hoists and ceiling mounted pull-down air hoses.

There are more than 10 service bays available for use, plus the service area has an expansive drive-though area to make caravan drop-offs and pick-ups easier.

The parts and accessories showroom is in another dedicated area, again distinct from the showroom (and service area) with a large parts backroom storage area.

There's also a detailing/wash bay area with grate system, where the water used is recycled, while the open yard area has more than enough room for the 100 new vans and up to 20 used units on offer.

New Age Sydney CEO Chad Kanj and General Manager Abraham Fouani have run the franchise business from its inception at Glossop Street, St Marys in November 2016.

“We outgrew (the original site) very quickly, basically in the first 12 months," Fouani explained. "We had to move the workshop off-site 200 metres down the road due to reaching space capacity.

"The amount of growth in the first two years was such that we started to do research on a site like this at Lansvale.

He said the impressive new outlet was designed to "change how people look at caravan dealerships".

"We wanted it to feel like you’re walking into a Porsche or Mercedes-Benz dealership," he said. “We want it to be a one-stop shop for all caravanners.”

New Age Sydney is not the first New Age dealer to aim for a premium caravan buying experience, following the opening last year of New Age Melbourne with its premium-feel indoor showroom.

Epping, Victoria-based New Age Caravans is believed to build in excess of 2000 caravans and campers annually and is now wholly owned by the Walkinshaw Group, who have stated their goal is to become Australia's premium quality caravan manufacturer.

The Lansvale dealership site was previously used to sell Holden cars; first as Ron Hodgson Holden and then Lansvale Holden, which closed early last year in the wake of Holden shuttering its local manufacturing operations.