Billabong back in business

Victorian custom caravan builder Billabong has bounced back after the company was placed into liquidation in late-November.

New owners of Billabong Custom Caravans Andrew and Claire Lednar, together with manager and former owner, Forch Salce, were on hand to take orders at a small display of Billabong vans at the recent Great Outdoor and 4x4 Expo at Mornington, Victoria.

The display included two late-model vans purchased at the online liquidation sale – a 16ft Shearwater and 21ft 6in Redback – along with the Lednars’ own 2014-model Billabong Tuff Series.

The business couple, who help run the family-owned Tip Top Plastics in Campbellfield, Victoria, not far from where the Billabong vans are built, bought the brand for an undisclosed price and are keen to see the business continue as passionate owners themselves.

"We just didn't want to see the end of Billabong," Claire Lednar recently told Caravanning News. "We thought of changing the name but it is one that is loved and respected by so many people."

Billabong caravans continue to be built at 1551 Sydney rd, Campbellfield but in a smaller 900 sq.m factory. Instead of 48 staff and up to eight vans a week, the business now employs six people and builds around one van a week.

As well as a couple of caravans, the new owners also snapped up some of the old factory equipment at the auction.

“We’re building some customer vans at the moment,” Forch Salce told caravancampingsales.

“Andrew and Claire have said that if you have put a deposit down before administration, they will honour it. We probably have around 13 orders now (because of that)," he said.

Billabong previously had five dealers but now operates factory direct, which hasn't deterred some keen buyers from as far as Darwin and Canberra placing orders since word got out that the company was back in business, Salce said.

He pointed the finger at Queensland dealer Coastal Caravans, which was also wound up in late-November, for contributing to Billabong’s collapse. According to Salce, the manufacturer had 120 orders worth $3.5 million at the time.

“The main problem was with the Queensland dealer; Bank of Queensland stocked the floorplan, and the next eight vans in the line were Queensland orders and I had no money to buy stock… I had to borrow money in the last week to pay wages. I was pushed into a corner where they had to call in the administrators."

The liquidation of Billabong “was just something that should not have happened... it’s still a shock to me”.

“We produced a good quality van and had a good name in the industry,” he claimed. "Even my warranties were less than one per cent.

“The customers that have Billabongs are now happy because we’re still going, and new customers are happy because they get a new van.”

Salce said the plan is to re-establish a dealer network, and ramp production up to two or three vans a week.