Fleetwood RV bounces back

One of Australia’s largest caravan manufacturers is bouncing back after a
recent slowdown in sales, with production of Windsor and Coromal caravans set to double in the space of 18 months to 45 vans a week by mid-2014.

According to Paul Sparke, the national sales and marketing manager for Coromal and Windsor Caravans, the publicly-listed Fleetwood Corporation had been “ramping up” caravan production at its Perth manufacturing facility since early-2013, when production was down to around 20 vans a week.

The news follows a couple of years of disappointing financial results from Fleetwood’s RV business, which also includes Camec accessories and Flexiglass canopies.

“We’re achieving about 35 vans a week now, and aiming to hit 40 by the end of the year, so we’re certainly ramping up,” Sparke said.

“We’ve had to increase our production staff to cope with that... we’re employing over 200 people now in Perth,” he said.

Speaking at last week's Melbourne Leisurefest show, Sparke said the turnaround was the result of a recent restructure and rebranding of Fleetwood’s RV business, which included moving Windsor Caravans’ manufacturing operations from Melbourne to its main facility in Perth in order to do away with duplication and overhead costs as well as improve quality. 

For example, Windsor caravans now use lightweight aluminium framing similar to Coromal, doing away with the old Meranti timber construction method.

Also helping drive sales is the revitalisation of the Coromal and Windsor model ranges, including the introduction of new cut-price models such as the
Coromal Element van and
Chinese-built Navigator camper trailer.

Fleetwood has also breathed new life into its dealership network, bringing Coromal and Windsor brands together for the first time, as part of an expanded nationwide network of 22 dealers.

Reinforcing its position as a ‘premium’ brand, Windsor will no longer offer a camper trailer, while the ‘budget-priced’ Coromal brand (which comprises about 75 per cent of Fleetwood RV production) is set to roll out more versions of the new Navigator.

With annual combined production approaching 2000 units, Sparke said Fleetwood retains its historical position as a top-three caravan manufacturer in Australia.

“Based on our sales to date we will be increasing our market share this year,” he said.

Fleetwood is currently looking at ways to boost production to 45 a week by mid-2014, including adding extra shifts to its five production lines, which currently run five days a week.

Both ranges will soon benefit from further updates, including new 2014 versions of the top-selling Coromal Element, as well as improvements to the Windsor Genesis and Royale vans.

The popular Coromal Magnum pop-top will be relaunched with a new name, while buyers can expect a couple of other new model “surprises”.

While currently available with ‘off-road’ packs, Sparke said there were no plans to introduce full off-road models in either Coromal or Windsor ranges.

But with currently only one Victorian dealer in the regional city of Bendigo, a major priority is to set up a dealer within the caravan manufacturing ‘hub’ of Melbourne.

“We need some representation (in Melbourne). We basically see that as our greatest opportunity,” he said.