AL-KO buys G&S Chassis

AL-KO’s jointly-announced purchase of leading independent chassis manufacturer G&S Chassis and RV industry hardware supplier Hume Caravan and Camping Accessories is a move designed to tighten its grip on the Australian RV market in which it is already a major player.

The acquisition of  41-year-old family-owned and Victoria-based G&S Chassis, that currently supplies around a quarter of all local caravan manufacturers other than Jayco, gives AL-KO the ability to offer a ’one-stop shop’ under-body ‘package’ consisting of a proven chassis, a choice of suspension systems, drum or disc brakes, electronic stability control system (ESC) and ancillaries, such as corner drop-jacks and jockey wheels.

With G&S, AL-KO has also effectively acquired AusTrail Chassis, which G&S purchased in late 2016.

While officially it will be ‘business as usual’ at G&S in the immediate future, with General Manager Rob Intrussi and other members of the Intrussi family still actively running the business, the long-term direction of the company remains less certain.

When American-owned axle and brake specialist Dexter and AL-KO International combined forces globally in late 2015, AL-KO Australia effectively swallowed Dexter’s local distributors, Melbourne  Trailer & Caravan Supplies, around 18 months later, rationalising their combined product ranges in the process.

It now remains to be seen what the shape of G&S’s future business will be – particularly whether it will still offer custom chassis options to long-standing customers such as Victoria’s Evernew, which was one of G&S’s first customers, more than 40 years ago.

If AL-KO decides to drive its new Australian chassis arm towards more mainstream products, it might open opportunities for some existing smaller-volume chassis manufacturers to offer custom-build options.

As for G&S’s  Control Rider independent trailing arm suspension, it’s probably too early to tell. AL-KO has already invested heavily in developing its Enduro range of Cross Country (all-road) and Outback (off-road) suspension systems to counter Jayco’s J-TECH, but it didn’t have a really heavy-duty off-road product in its catalogue to counter Cruisemaster’s XT and ATX airbag systems – until now.

The purchase of Hume Caravan and Camping Accessories is another interesting move by AL-KO that gives it further inroads into local caravan manufacture, at source.

Campbellfield, Victoria-based Hume is a significant supplier to the trade of a wide range of products ranging from beds, locker doors, vents, sheet metal, water tanks and lighting products, to gas struts, gas bottle holders and window parts – in other words, most things other than the actual body frame and cladding that go into the making of many mainstream Australian caravans – particularly those emanating from Campbellfield.