Roma rejects Chinese caravans

There has been a family management reshuffle and a change in direction at Australia’s oldest family-run caravan manufacturer, with Brendan Palmarini taking over the day-to-day running of Melbourne’s Roma Caravans from his father Tony, and the company turning its back on Chinese-built caravans after buyer backlash.

Meanwhile, younger brother Mark Palmarini has left the manufacturing company to run Roma’s former sole-franchise dealership opposite the former Ford factory in Campbellfield, Victoria, where he is selling Roma, Chinese-built Avoka caravans and a range of Canadian, French and Italian-built micro-caravan brands.

Following the management changes, Roma will soon begin construction of a new all-in-one 5000sq. m. manufacturing plant on a greenfield site in Campbellfield – about double the combined size of its island factories – that will bring all the company’s operations under one roof when occupied early next year.

“It will be the start of a new era at Roma,” said Brendan Palmarini. “We’re certainly not planning to rest on our heritage. You will see a number of changes in our future caravans that will bring them right up to date with the latest 21st century technology.

“We’re looking at things like full composite floors, advanced wireless inter-connectivity, streamlined production and weight-saving ideas like tailored wiring looms, to name just a few.”

Palmarini said that Roma had now abandoned the thought of making some of its models in China with the assistance of Australian operatives.

“We are a proud Australian caravan company with our origins dating back to 1928 and our heritage is not only our point of difference – it’s also our future,” he said.

“We had three caravans built for us in China and we displayed them at this year’s Melbourne Caravan Show to test public reaction. The clear message we got loud and clear from our customers was that they expected Romas to be built in Australia and that’s what we’ll be doing into the foreseeable future.”

To remain price-competitive with the imports, Roma will soon introduce a new entry-level Discovery caravan series priced in the competitive $45,000-$60,000 range.

A key seller is expected to be the new Roma Discovery Bunk Van, that will retail around $55,000 for a new 21ft 6in - 22ft version.

In this respect Roma will largely mirror its major rivals, with its Elegance model sitting on top as a luxury leader, the new Discovery providing a cut-price entry model, and the Razorback covering off the ever-expanding off-road segment.

A question mark currently hangs over Roma’s Sov’reign mid-range, with decisions yet to be made on its future direction within the Roma line-up.

Despite relinquishing control of its Campbellfield dealership, Palmarini said Roma would continue with its practice of maintaining a strong Australia-wide retail network.

“I’ve been a past dealer myself; I know how it works,” he said.

He fully endorses the decision for Roma to remain a 100 per cent Australian manufacturer.

“What else would I do?” he said. “I’ve been holidaying in or building caravans all my life It’s in the blood of our family.

“(Caravan) imports from China increased by 600 units in 2017 and they are still growing,” he said.  ‘Their quality is improving, but it’s still not at the level our customers want.

“We still think it could be five to 10 years away before the Chinese will be able to build consistently good caravans for Australia.

“Our customers want a proven, good looking caravan with good customer service. There’s a saying in this industry: A happy customer will make you 100 friends; an unhappy customer will make you 10,000 enemies!”