Apollo improves Coromal quality

Update, March 14: In response to the article below, Apollo Tourism & Leisure has supplied the following statement, reproduced in full:

In response to the article posted on caravancampingsales.com.au on March 6, entitled Apollo Improves Coromal Quality, Apollo, and our industry associates Fleetwood, would like to make the following points and corrections.
 
The two Fleetwood built caravans referred to in the article experienced failures, which was unfortunate.  However, both faults were due to supplied component failures. The failings were not related to defective builds and the issues were immediately addressed and rectified by the relevant suppliers.  Despite these issues, the Fleetwood built Pioneer Evolution Coromal model won Caravan of the Year in its range.
 
When the Evolution was launched by Fleetwood in May 2018, a small number of opportunities for continuous improvement were identified and addressed by the new build method. 
 
In addition Apollo compiled a list for their new Brisbane factory, based on independent online reviews over the last 24 months, as a guide to areas we may be able to improve on the already excellent Coromal product.
 
In relation to the 180+ Fleetwood built Coromal caravans in dealerships around the country, each dealer does a comprehensive Pre Delivery Inspection prior to handing a caravan over to a customer.  Customers can rest assured that Fleetwood will honour their warranty for existing customers, as well as new customers who purchase caravans built in their Perth factory. 
 
Apollo will be releasing our comprehensive and industry leading warranty details for Apollo built caravans within the next couple of weeks, designed to offer ongoing support to new customers joining the extensive Coromal owners family.
 
Apollo purchased the Coromal (and Windsor) brands from Fleetwood with enthusiasm to carry on the great reputation of Coromal and to use our state of the art manufacturing facility in Brisbane to make a great product for future customers.
 
Current owners, and future buyers, can rest assured that when buying a Coromal Caravan, they will be getting an excellent product, representing outstanding value, be it a Fleetwood or an Apollo built unit.

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Queensland’s Apollo Tourism & Leisure says it is building better Coromal caravans in Brisbane since purchasing the Coromal and Windsor brands from Perth-based Fleetwood Corporation for a reported $1 million last year.

Quality issues with Fleetwood-built Coromals became public when two Evolution caravans – an on-road Element and an off-road Pioneer XC – left a recent ‘Caravan of the Year’ magazine shoot-out on the back of flat-tray trucks after suffering wheel bearing and disc brake line failures respectively.

Some Perth-built Coromals are also known to have water ingress issues, both in dealer yards and in the hands of customers.

Simon Kerr, who was Fleetwood’s National Marketing Manager, but has now joined the Apollo Group as National Brand Manager, says there is a concerted move at Apollo to lift Coromal build quality.

Kerr told caravancampingsales he identified 27 separate issues for improvement on Perth-built Coromal caravans.

“Many of the items, including the water leak issues, have already been addressed on the first Apollo-built models that were shown recently in Adelaide and the Gold Coast,” he said.. “Unfortunately, the caravans submitted for the Caravan of the Year judging were earlier Fleetwood-built models.”

Kerr said that while the new Brisbane-built Coromals employ the latest lightweight Fleetwood-manufactured 550-grade steel welded and bolted chassis, Ezy-Tow suspension, automotive side window glass and one-piece composite walls, roof and floor, Apollo’s many years of experience in manufacturing Winnebago motorhomes and more recently Winnebago caravans, had been applied to Coromal production.

At this stage Apollo hasn’t committed to purchasing the costly machinery necessary to produce these items in Brisbane, with Kerr saying the company was yet to decide whether to do this or purchase new machinery.

However, Coromal cabinetry and upholstery are manufactured entirely in Brisbane, he said. Apollo had already built 12 Coromals in Brisbane, with the plan going forward to kick off production at the rate of 15 per month before ramping up bigger numbers.

He said at this stage the Windsor and Fleetwood brand names that were also acquired by Apollo as part of the Fleetwood RV buy-out, were being ‘rested’.

“The plan is to get Coronal right before expanding the brand portfolio,” he said.

Kerr said that there were still an estimated 180 Perth-built Coromal and Windsor caravans and campers in the dealer network, but any quality issues were being addressed under Apollo’s warranty provisions through its Australia-wide network of dealer and service centres.

“Coromal has been a respected Australian brand for 44 years and we intend to respect and strengthen it,” he said.

The Apollo-built Coromals are easy to spot, wearing large ‘Proudly built by Apollo’ script on their side and rear walls.