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NEWS
Camel Campers calls it quits
Another Australian camper trailer manufacturer falls victim to cheap Chinese importsThe battling Australian camper trailer manufacturing industry has received another blow, with Camel Campers shutting its doors for good this week.
Company members met earlier this week and decided the Queensland-based manufacturer should be wound up, with Steven Kugel of Sydney-based The Insolvency Experts appointed liquidator.
Established in 2006, Camel Campers built a range of soft-floor camper trailers at its Slacks Creek, Queensland factory. The company took great pride in producing many components in-house and offered a five year warranty on its campers, most of which were priced under $30,000.
While yet to examine the books, Steven Kugel said he believed Camel Campers had experienced a significant slowdown in sales this year and had over $600,000 in debts.
“According to the directors anyway, (the company) was really negatively affected by whatever was happening in the economy in the lead up to the election, which they said had a dramatic effect on the sales,” he said.
Caravancampingsales tried to contact Camel Campers but no phones were being answered.
The number of Australian camper trailer manufacturers has fallen dramatically in recent times, from as many as 150 about a decade ago to about 40 today, as cheaper, often copy-cat campers from China have flooded the market.
Camel Campers was a member of the Australian Manufactured Camper Trailer Guild, a lobby group for Australian-made campers that has seen its membership drop from 29 to 25 manufacturers in recent years despite the addition of Jayco.
Former Cub Campers’ CEO and AMCTG president, Roger Fagan, points the finger squarely at inferior Chinese ‘copies’ undercutting locally-made campers.
“It’s a world-wide problem. The Chinese currency is artificially low. You can’t compete on price for something that looks the same, and with the Chinese products being two thirds of the price," Fagan said.
“I spent 47 years in the business and they’ve copied every design I’ve ever done. So their product looks the same but it’s cheaper,” he said.
“I suppose the fact that Camel was in the cheaper end of the market, it’s very hard to compete with the Chinese product. Camel is a good product and they had happy customers.”
Another problem he said was that younger buyers are less inclined to buy Australian-made products, and are less concerned about cheaper canvas and steel used on Chinese imports.
“One of the most expensive things in a camper trailer is the canvas. The Chinese canvas is absolutely shocking, it’s way below (the quality) of Australian canvas, but of course it’s much cheaper.
“What people have to realise is the Australian outback is bloody tough and Chinese steel is nowhere as good as Australian steel. When you go across corrugations it’s no wonder so many of the Chinese campers fall apart…
“The grey nomads will be more particular and pay a bit extra (for Australian-built campers) but the newer generation are less loyal and will buy off the internet off a company they’ve never heard of.”
He said the only way that Australian manufacturers could compete was by innovating, and investing in more efficient manufacturing processes.
“Cub Campers has invested heavily in state-of-the-art machinery because we recognise that’s the only way we can compete. We can offer the customer a quality product that they can go through in the outback with confidence. It’s also an investment; you buy a Chinese-made Great Wall ute and you go to trade it and you get nothing for it.
“We believe in innovation, because the Asians are only copiers, they’re not innovators.”
He said it wasn’t all “doom and gloom” for the local camper industry.
“I know that manufacturing costs are now increasing quite dramatically in countries like China and Bangladesh, so in the future I think the prices will go up to make it a bit better for local manufacturers.”
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Written byChris Fincham
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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