A'van ramps up production

Leading Australian RV maker A’van is currently planning a major expansion that will increase the size of its existing Pakenham, Victoria manufacturing facility by nearly 30 per cent.

Plans currently awaiting planning approval will see a new 8000 square metre greenfield factory built adjacent to A’van’s existing 22,000 sq m facility over the next 12 months, primarily to make German-designed Knaus luxury caravans in Australia.

This will also allow A’van’s recently acquired Golf brand to move into a dedicated factory on the existing 8.4 hectare site, primarily for manufacture of its expanding Savannah pop top and caravan off-road ranges.

The addition of Knaus by A’van caravans, plus the growth of Golf, is expected to swell total A’van production numbers from their present 2000 a year to close to 3000 and add significantly to the existing 200-strong Pakenham workforce.

A’van was started 21 years ago by Jeff Van Baardwyk and his wife Marion in a compact 3000 square metre factory in Hallam, where they were quickly joined in the business, first by their son Jeffrey and then by his younger brother Scott.

Initially they built their innovative folding-wall A-Liner campers, but after moving into pop-top caravans, they then outgrew two more Hallam factories before purchasing and developing their present site in 2003.

With their parents officially retired, Jeff and Scott now run the business, although their father maintains a keen interest in the operation’s running and development – particularly the new Klaus partnership.

The latest expansion has its genesis in A’van’s acquisition of the recession crippled 38 year-old Queensland-based Golf brand in late 2012, but the real impetus was the agreement finally forged late last year after a 14-year courtship by the Van Baardwyks with the giant Dutch-owned German RV manufacturer Knaus Tabbert of Jandelsbrunn, Bavaria.

The deal will see Knaus caravans and motorhomes built in Pakenham, the former on Australian designed and built A’van 100mm x 50mm galvanised steel chassis, overcoming market perception that British and European vans are ‘too soft’ for Australian road conditions.

The Knaus vans are effectively self-supporting bodies, with 38mm-thick composite plywood floors, aluminium covered and ply lined sandwich walls, a hail-proof GRP roof and plastic front and rear ends, making them light, strong and easily bolted to a locally-built chassis.

“The reality is that the European vans are very capable of handling most on-road conditions if driven sensibly,” said A’van managing director, Scott Van Baardwyk, “but that negative perception is there and it's hard to dispel.

“It’s also true that you can’t travel around Australia and rely on smooth roads. I could take you to a suburban road just 10km from here that is rated at 100km/h, but whose corrugations would shake most caravans apart if driven at that speed!”

The other major problem that Australians have had with imported caravans in the past, according to Scott, is brand longevity and support.

“Pure importers need to make a profit,” he said, “so if the currency changes dramatically, or the customers dry up, they usually pack their bags and shut shop. This has seen customers stranded in the past and left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.

“But we have been around for 21 years, we are planning to build Knaus by A’van caravans on our own proven Australian A’van chassis and we’ll have national support behind them and that should give everyone confidence in the product.

“We’re also not adding Knaus because we have to. We currently have an eight-month order bank for our caravans so we could have just sat on our hand. However market conditions and customer preferences can change and if and when they do, we’ll be ready.”