Caravan price wars escalate

The 2025 Melbourne Leisurefest held at the Sandown Racecourse in September had two things you don't normally see at an Australian caravan show.

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

The other eye-opener 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, often 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, Stockman, Goldstream and Lifestyle Campers.

The big camper and hybrid importers are now gunning for a serious slice of the lucrative touring caravan market, with a host of examples at Sandown including new full-height caravan 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 caravan range also competing directly with the ever-increasing sub-$80K imports.

Melbourne's Retreat Caravans also 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.

Also appealing to those on a budget was Sunland's new Phoenix sub-brand line-up, with tempting prices of 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 cut-price Dreamhaven full composite caravans which will be built at Crusader's big auto-production style factory in Epping, Victoria.

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

It's not all about lower prices and saving local jobs, with the 'Built here, backed here' theme at Leisurefest extending to other important consumer issues like build quality and customer service.

However, high-volume importers at Leisurefest including Snowy River and MDC, which had its 'distruptive' new Gold Class caravan range on display, can also boast noteworthy build quality credentials, not to mention expanding dealer and support networks.

And we all know Australian manufacturers can be just as guilty of dodgy practices as the imported brands.

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

Albury, NSW-based Mountain Trail started off building tent campers but now offers off-grid mega-vans like the top-spec display 'van at Leisurefest priced around $280K.

While 57-year old Sydney camper specialist Cub is moving in the same direction, trying hard to tempt Leisurefest buyers shopping in the premium 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 the Melbourne Leisurefest, priced to sell at $135,990 drive-away.

Australia's dozen or so campervan and motorhome conversion specialists still largely have the market to themselves but that's changing too, with affordable new, Chinese-built turn-key campervans starting to arrive from Snowy River and LDV.

It's not all doom and gloom for the Aussie RV brigade; quite a few of which have been manufacturing in this country for decades. Aussies still largely prefer to buy locally-made caravans and motorhomes, for a variety of good reasons.

But if it ends up becoming a battle to the bottom, or if buyers are ultimately forced to choose between patriotism or pricing, that could change quickly too...

Related: Covers off new entry-level Dreamhaven caravans