More RV importers expand into caravans

No longer satisfied with dominating the camper trailer and hybrid pop-top market in Australia, an increasing number of well-known imported RV brands are 'upsizing' into the full-size caravan market currently dominated by Australian manufacturers.

However, not all are doing it with Chinese-built models, with Melbourne-based Opus Campers one of the latest camper trailer and hybrid specialists to head upmarket with the impending release of a new locally-built Opus full-size caravan.

Opus Campers' Joel Stocklinger told caravancampingsales that the large off-road caravan model will be added to Opus' range of inflatable campers and hybrids by around mid-2024.

"We recently did a big 2024 update across the Opus range that added new features and specs, and we're now looking to add a 19ft and 20ft caravan to our line-up, around the middle of this year," he said.

"They'll be all Australian made unlike the hybrids and campers which are all imported."

The new full-height vans will be built locally at a factory in Melbourne's northern suburbs, with the first prototype due to arrive at Opus' Keysborough, Victoria facility in coming weeks, before the full range is rolled out around mid-year.

"We'll be going to a third-party to build it, which will then be sold completely as an Opus product," he continued.

"They'll be pretty similar (to other Campbellfield, Victoria-built vans on the market) but we're working on the value proposition at the moment. It's likely to have a higher spec (as standard) so we can offer it to buyers at a price and without them having to add too many costly options.

"We're also hoping to make it affordable for families, so hopefully it will come in around the $90-$100,000 range."

Opus currently offers three camper trailers and two hybrids in its local range, with recent facelifts including an upgraded power system and roof-lifting mechanism, and a modern interior makeover. The hybrids are largely built in China before local fit-out and compliance takes place at Opus' Australian facility.

Meanwhile, Pakenham, Victoria based Fantasy Caravan is also ramping up its large caravan line-up, after mainly focusing on imported pop-top hybrids over the past seven years. Fantasy introduced a range of locally-built as well as imported full-size caravans under the Sunchaser Caravans brand about a year ago, but is now in the process of re-branding some of the Sunchaser models to be included as part of the more established Fantasy range.

The Sunchaser line-up currently consists of Australian-built Forest Finder semi off-road models, available in 16ft 6in to 22ft 6in body lengths with both couple and family layouts, and priced from $77,990 to $96,990.

Like the new Opus full-size model the Sunchaser Forest Finder vans are built in a factory in Melbourne's northern suburbs, where thousands of Aussie-built caravans are manufactured each year by dozens of companies, from niche builders to large-volume manufacturers like Network RV, Crusader and New Age.

Other Sunchaser-branded models including the Skyline on-road and Horizon off-road ranges, available in 16ft-20ft body lengths and priced from $56,990 to $77,990, are built in China like the Fantasy hybrids.

Meanwhile, Fantasy has put on hold plans to roll out another new imported large-van that was unveiled last year: the eye-catching 22ft 6in GT family luxury off-road caravan, which came loaded up with features including airbag suspension, 240Ah lithium batteries and 800W rooftop solar panels, for its $89,000 price tag. The only Fantasy GT in the country is currently listed for sale by the Fantasy Caravan Pakenham outlet.