Caravan price wars escalate

There were two things I noticed at the 2025 Melbourne Leisurefest earlier this month, that I've never seen before at an Australian caravan show.

The first was the pet cat at the Paradise Motor Homes stand. I've seen plenty of cuddly canines at local caravan shows in recent years, but never before a feisty feline on a leash.

The other eye-opening 'first' was the number of signs not just urging the 27,000-plus showgoers that attended the event over the four days to buy an Australian-made RV, but actually advising against purchasing an imported one.

At the display of Crusader's new budget Dreamhaven caravans (with their sub-$70K starting price designed to go "head-to-head with imports" according to the media release), there were signs with an 'Australian checklist' for buyers, including "no overseas shortcuts", "no imported shipping container shells," and "no imported chassis".

Further along was a big digital road sign at the stand of Melbourne-built My Dream RV caravans, programmed with flashing, in-your-face 'Aussie Made', boxing kangaroo and 'Not from China' messaging.

Van Cruiser had a hand-written note on its premium Victorian built display 'vans, urging potential customers to "Buy Australian made! Built locally in Carrum Downs for Australian off-road conditions".

Van Cruiser's factory is only about 20km down the road from the Sandown Racecourse, so you couldn't get much more local...

The RV industry in Australia is one of the nation's great manufacturing success stories, employing tens of thousands of locals.

A lot of these work on the production floor of the 100-plus local manufacturers that produce upwards of 20,000 recreational vehicles every year, from tiny family operations to the 1000-odd employees at the Jayco mega-factory.

However, recent years has seen a flood of cheaper, feature-packed RV imports, mostly from China, entering the country, to the point where there's a good chance imports will overtake locally-built caravan and motorhome numbers, for the first time n 2025.

Go back 20 years and there were dozens of local camper trailer builders earning a decent living. But now it's mostly imported tent trailers and hybrids, with only a handful of Aussie camper trailer builders flying the flag at Leisurefest, including Ultimate, Vista RV, Jayco, Goldstream and Lifestyle Campers.

Now the big camper and hybrid importers are gunning for a serious slice of the lucrative large caravan market, with a host of examples at Leisurefest including new models from Ezytrail, Mars, MDC and Stoney Creek.

Crusader isn't the only big Aussie manufacturer getting on the front foot, with the JB Group's new Traveller full composite range also competing directly with the sub-$80K imports.

Melbourne's Retreat Caravans debuted a new entry-level Whitsunday Macquarie Edition full-size caravan at Leisurefest, which had a surprisingly stunning interior for a 'budget', circa $100K touring ensuite 'van.

Just as appealing was Sunland's new Phoenix sub-brand line-up, tempting buyers at just over $80K tow-away for a locally-built, composite touring 'van.

"By backing local businesses, we’re not only keeping quality high but also creating jobs in the community," explained Crusader Caravans' Managing Director Michael Paidoussis about the new Dreamhaven cut-price, full composite caravan range.

"It means we can support Australians in the same way they support us, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

It wasn't all about prices and local jobs, with the 'Built here, backed here' theme extending to other important consumer issues like build quality and customer service.

However, high-volume importers like Snowy River and MDC also boast growing build quality credentials. And we all know Australian manufacturers can be just as guilty of dodgy practices as the imported brands.

Importer dealer networks are also expanding, including a new line-up of independent dealers around the country for MDC's 'distruptive' new Gold Class luxury caravan brand.

Meanwhile, high-profile local manufacturers like Lotus and Titanium are moving further upmarket, where the importers are yet to seriously compete.

Albury-based Mountain Trail started off building tent campers but now offers off-grid mega-vans priced as much as $280K. Another NSW camper specialist Cub is also moving in a new direction, trying to attract buyers in the upmarket off-road hybrid segment.

It's not just local caravan producers fighting on price for a diminished buyer pool in these tougher economic times.

Sydney's Sundowner unveiled a new entry-level, Ford Ranger-based Smidge Long Week-end campervan at Melbourne Leisurefest, priced to sell at $135,990 drive-away.

Australia's dozen or so campervan and motorhome specialists still largely have the market to themselves but that's changing too, with new affordable turn-key campervans arriving from overseas under the Snowy River and LDV brands.

It's not all doom and gloom. Aussies still prefer to buy locally-made caravans and motorhomes, for a variety of reasons.

But if it ends up becoming a battle to the bottom, or a basic decision for buyers between patriotism or pricing, that could change quickly too...

Related: Covers off new entry-level Dreamhaven caravans