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NEWS
Fleetwood increases market share
Sales of Coromal/Windsor vans up but RV division remains in the redPerth-based Fleetwood Corporation, which builds Coromal and Windsor caravans, has reported a 47 per cent increase in revenue for its RV division for the 2017 financial year.
The Perth-based manufacturer reported RV manufacturing revenue of $47.4 million, up 59 per cent, while overall RV production was also up by 51 per cent year-on-year.
Fleetwood managing director Brad Denison said increased demand for family-friendly RVs had worked in Fleetwood’s favor, allowing the company to increase its market share in a ‘soft market’.
“Industry volume has actually weakened over the last year, and that trend is continuing into the 2018 financial year,” he said.
“The number of imported towable RV products has increased from around 5000 to about 6000, or about 20 per cent over that same period. So the overall market is growing but Australian made products are slowly becoming a lower proportion of total sales…
“We’ve also seen a shift in the market towards smaller, lighter caravans in a segment the industry refers to as free camping. That context is particularly relevant when you look at Fleetwood’s volume growth over this period, which is greater than 50 per cent and is all in market share growth.
Fleetwood has repositioned the Coromal brand as catering mostly to grey nomads seeking a full size caravan, whereas the Windsor brand with its range of smaller pop-tops, expanders and camper trailers is geared more towards families.
“The part of the market that is really moving well at the moment is the family side of the market,” he said. “I think the retiree demographic has stabilized and we’re still seeing more than 70 per cent of the volume going to retirees, but the growth in the overall market is generally being led by families entering the market.”
Another factor driving sales is the ongoing revamp of the dealer network, with around 17 outlets now exclusively selling Coromal/Windsor models.
An “efficiency lag” in training new workers to build more caravans was given as a key reason for a $6.7 million loss for the RV manufacturing division, up from $8.1 million the previous year.
“We do not expect this (RV) business to return to profitability in 2018,” he said.
“To generate such a rapid increase in volume… we’ve had to significantly increase the number of factory employees, in a state where there aren’t any other caravan manufacturers and no skilled caravan manufacturing people.
“This efficiency lag is the key reason the increase in revenue hasn’t delivered at the bottom line yet, however factory labour efficiency is increasing.”
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Written byCaravancampingsales Staff
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