Jayco hits and misses

Not every horse backed by Australia’s most successful RV manufacturer has been a winner

Jayco founder Gerry Ryan has had more hits than the Rolling Stones over the years, setting the pace for the Australian camper and caravan industry we have today.

But along the way there have also been some ‘misses’, due in part to Ryan’s ‘nothing ventured; nothing gained’ philosophy of test-marketing new ideas and then withdrawing them if they don’t catch on.

Ryan’s hits haven’t been confined to the RV industry either, with his exploits ranging from major theatre productions like ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ and ‘War Horse’ to owning a major winery.

He’s the part owner of a Melbourne Cup winning horse and President of Cycling Australia, while also forming and funding the Green Edge cycling team in events from the Tour Down Under to the Tour de France.

First the hits…

• Australia’s first camper trailer was built in 1975 in a Melbourne backyard by Gerry Ryan and his team of eight. Flatteringly copied by Goldstream and Coromal (and soon New Age), but still the backbone of Jayco sales today, although demand is seasonal.

• Australia’s first ‘Outback’ camper trailer, introduced with a stronger chassis arrives in 1988.

• Aluminium frames used for the first time on an Australian caravan (1991).

• In 2002 Jayco introduces the Expanda, an innovative composite-walled hybrid marrying the best design elements of the camper trailer and pop-top. Coromal, Avan and New Age have since introduced similar models.

• In 2007 Jayco moves to a purpose-built, 60,000sqm complex at Dandenong South in Melbourne’s south-east. In the process sets a new volume production model for the Australian RV industry.

• Jayco unveils a new ‘Toy Hauler’ concept called the Basestation in 2008.

• In-house designed J-Tech independent coil spring suspension released in 2014, making traditional leaf springs yesterday’s technology overnight.

Now the misses…

• Slide-on camper trailers have been very popular in the USA and were tipped to boom here in the 1990s on the back of the camper trailer’s success, but the Jayco Sportster didn’t and slipped quietly off the model listing before the decade was out.

• The Jayco 5th Wheeler arrived in a blaze of glory in 2013 and was built in a dedicated section of the company’s Dandenong plant, borrowing many internal features from the range-topping Sterling and current Silverline.

However while undercutting its imported US-built rivals substantially in price, Australia’s appetite for this US fad didn’t make economic sense down under and it faded quietly from production earlier this year.

• US-built and imported J8 budget camper trailer, badged ‘Starcraft Sport’ was unveiled with little fanfare at last year’s Melbourne Leisurefest. Priced at $10,990, it was Gerry Ryan’s answer to imported Chinese campers and offered buyers a saving of more than $6000 over the cheapest Oz-built Jayco camper.

But not only was it cheap, but nasty by comparison and 40 units initially sourced from Jayco’s American range will not be re-ordered once the last of them has been sold off through Jayco dealers at heavily discounted prices.

• Perhaps sadly, Ryan’s each-way bet at the entry level – the $9900 J-Pod teardrop camper – is heading down the same path to early oblivion. Cheap, not as nasty, but relatively expensive for what is little more than a fibreglass pod with a bed, it’s currently being induced out of showrooms with free roof bars.

However Jayco dealers privately admit that it will take a lot more to inspire potential buyers when there are similarly priced second-hand campers and cheap Chinese campers out there competing for their dollar.

• Also worth mentioning, and keeping with the American theme, is what appears to be Jayco's brief flirtation with becoming the official importer of the iconic Airstream brand.

We've haven't heard a peep from Jayco since the 'soft' launch at this year's Melbourne Supershow so assume buyer interest was low and it's been taken off the table...

So that’s seven great hits that have shaped the Australian RV, caravan and camper trailer industry and four (and a half) that did not, but are not really missed.

Even Mick and Keith would be quite proud of that ‘Hit’ to ‘Miss’ ratio…

Jayco hits and misses

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