New $100K 19ft MDC caravan arrives

Brisbane-based importer MDC is releasing a new top-spec 19ft luxury off-grid caravan that will be priced from $99,990.

Now available for pre-order on the MDC website, the new range-topping off-road tandem axle, three berth caravan will be one of MDC's most luxurious and off-grid capable models to date, coming standard with seven 175W rooftop solar panels feeding two 200Ah lithium batteries.

Together with a 3000W pure sine wave inverter, it should be able to run some if not all of its onboard appliances when 'unplugged' from mains power, including the roof-mounted air conditioner, 175 litre compressor fridge/freezer, microwave and wall-mounted washing machine.

The new 19ft van sleeps three on a king size high-density foam mattress bed and an L-shape lounge/dinette that converts to a king single bed, with the large kitchen also featuring a sink with drainer and mixer tap, three burner cooktop and oven, with outside cooking as well on a slide-out kitchen with three gas burner cooktop and sink with mixer tap.

The new top-spec MDC XT19HRT model also gets a full width rear ensuite with separate shower and toilet, and comes with a gas water heater and diesel space heater, hot cold external shower, Bluetooth stereo, HD LED TV, two 12V fans, an electronic stability control safety unit and a wireless rear camera, among other standard features.

It has a listed Tare of 2950kg, and an ATM of 3500kg, and is set up for travel along unsealed roads with a Cruisemaster DO-35 coupling, independent coil spring suspension with twin shocks, 12in drum brakes and 16in alloy wheels and mud terrain tyres. Water capacity includes two 80 litre fresh tanks and one 80L grey water tank.

MDC is one of a number of locally-based RV importers looking to make inroads into the popular full-size caravan market dominated by Jayco and a few other big Melbourne-based manufacturers, with Mars recently rolling out new 17ft couple and family vans priced from $72,000, and Harvok launching its latest 19ft 6in aluminium monocoque 48V off-grid caravan, also sharply priced from $94,990.

On The Move Caravans, now owned by dealer group Caravan HQ, also recently released its new Adventure range of Chinese-built off-road composite vans, aimed at buyers shopping in the competitive $80,000-$90,000 bracket.

The new XT19HRT couple's van is not the largest nor most expensive caravan that MDC has released, with the Brisbane-based importer offering a 22ft off-road caravan a few years ago that retailed at the time for around $101,000.

The big-selling RV brand also tried to sell a range of large, locally-built composite caravans under the AusRV name around six years ago, before moving production off-shore to one of its joint-venture China factories.