Jayco motorhome blitz coming

The new boss of Jayco Australia has hinted at a return of smaller campervans as well as the possibility of other ‘motorised’ variants like slide-on ute campers from Australia's biggest RV manufacturer.

Just weeks into the new job, Jayco Australia CEO Carl Bizon said the 40-year-old company is on track to double its motorhome production following the recent move into a new 6500 square metre motorhome production facility at the company’s Dandenong, Victoria mega-factory.

“We’ve got some new (motorhome) models due next year. We’re in the process of upping production right now, and by the time we get to Christmas we’ll be at the highest level of production we’ve achieved,” Bizon said.

“Next year we’ll be expanding into different product categories in motorhomes and we think there is a good demand for it.”

Bizon said helping drive motorhome production will be a new rental motorhome business, Around Australia Motorhomes, recently acquired by Jayco chairman Gerry Ryan.

“We’re building (the rental fleet) now. It’s just a stock Jayco product optimized for the rental market, because obviously with the rental market you have a user that’s less intimate with the product so you have to make things simpler to understand,” he said.

Bizon also sees a growing market for Jayco in offering ex-rental vehicles to buyers who can’t afford a new motorhome.

“The good thing about the rental market is a well-designed rental put on the market at the right price will attract people who may be looking at a caravan,” he said.

“So there will be a market developed for second-hand motorhomes with around 70-80,000km on the clock and four or five years old. It will create a demand for a new category of RV consumer."

Jayco introduced its first ‘B class’ campervan in 2004 and offered a slide-on ute camper about 15 years ago. However, it's current motorhome range comprises just two ‘C Class’ models with the most popular 20-28ft ‘grey nomad’ layouts based on Fiat, Renault, Mercedes-Benz, and Iveco cab-chassis.

Most Australian rental companies offer a range of smaller, van-based campers as well as off-road camper models and larger cab-chassis motorhomes, and Bizon said the more driver-friendly, B class campervans “are on our radar”.

Jayco's big motorhome push comes at a time when Australian motorhome production is holding steady, according to data provided by the Caravan Industry Association of Australia.

A total of 963 motorised RVs were produced locally in 2014, and the industry is on target to build a similar amount this year. It's still a long way shy of the peak in 2012 when 1455 motorhomes were built.

Unlike the over-populated caravan market, only a few companies produce motorhomes in Australia with Jayco, Avida, Trakka and Avan among the major players.