Big jump in Chinese imports

Chinese-built caravans and camper trailers continue to steal market share from the Australian RV manufacturing sector.

According to data from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia, RV imports largely from China grew by 783 units in September this year.

All up, 1561 campers and caravans built overseas arrived down under in September – a year-on-year increase of 101.1 per cent.

Imported RVs are currently tracking at a rolling annual figure of 17,547 – up 8390 units or 91 per cent year-on-year, and 71 per cent, or 7299 units higher than for the same period in 2019.

Australian RV production figures for September were also up according to the CIAA, with 1437 recreational vehicles built locally – a 265 per-cent increase, year-on-year.

"This significant increase is reflective of the decrease in outputs in 2020 as factory shutdowns and lockdowns began to occur in Melbourne from August," explained CIAA General Manager Research and Insights, Peter Clay.

The Australian RV industry is on track to build around 24,000 units in 2021, with 17,769 units produced in the first nine months of 2021 -- up 58 per cent compared to the same period in 2020 and 10 per cent higher than 2019.

"It represents the strongest YTD figures since the 1970s when Cyclone Tracy went through, and we would expect to reach the same levels of production," Clay said.

The annual number of Chinese-built RVs arriving in Australia has more than quadrupled over the past six years, from around 4000 units to close to 18,000. Over the same period the number of Australian built RVs has remained steady at around 21-23,000 annual production.

There are currently more than 800,000 registered recreational vehicles in Australia -- an increase of around 100,000 over the past two years.