Bright future predicted for top Aussie campers

Another week and another local caravan or camper trailer manufacturer has bitten the dust.

It’s an all-too-familiar story these days, but Track Trailer owner and Chairman Gerard Waldron reckons it’s not all bad news for the Australian RV industry –­ in fact it’s ultimately good for the top players.

Waldron saw the writing on the wall when he resumed control of Melbourne-based hard shell camper manufacturer Track Trailer in 2016, shortly afterwards predicting that as many as two thirds of Australia’s caravan and camper trailer manufacturers might not survive 2019, largely due to impending legislation relating to more stringent quality controls and ‘type’ based approval.

With the current attrition rate of local camper and caravan manufacturers, he could be proven correct.

“Look at the Tvan,” he said, referring to the trend-setting hybrid camper.

“It was the foundation of the ‘hybrid’ caravan when it was conceived in the late 1990s, but while most of its competitors have now fallen by the wayside and imported caravans and camper trailers have grown to around 10,000 units a year, this has only strengthened its position.”

Waldron said imports broadened variety, increased choice for consumers and kept Australian-made products honest on price. However, he believes local manufacturers will only reap benefits as long as their products are built well and comply with Australian standards.

“If they don’t do this, customers will exit the market earlier and we will not see them again, “ he said. “This is bad for us and the market.

With Millennials poised to take over from Baby Boomers as Australia’s most prolific RV purchasers, Waldron believes cheap entry-level camper trailers may provide the formative camping experience to seed sales of more expensive and higher-quality local products in later life.

“Many of today’s camper trailer and caravan buyers inherited their love of travel and the Outback through family holidays with their parents,” he said.

“But with an increasing proportion of our population coming from countries without opportunities to have this experience, they have to be educated to appreciate this uniquely Australian lifestyle.

“It’s often the same with Millennials. Many don’t own houses; they have large disposable incomes; they can get easy finance; and they are chasing new experiences – some of which will affect their purchasing decisions for life.

“For both of these groups, cheap campers get them into the game and give them the foundation to appreciate higher quality and more targeted products as they get older. That’s where companies like Track Trailer come in and where we want our products to live.

“We believe that when a customer chooses to pay a premium price for an Australian-made unit, it should be because it’s the best in its class, with enduring value, including all the ownership benefits from brand, reputation and performance, based on being a generation ahead of the imitators, with lower weights and better resolved design details”.