New Age celebrates 20,000th chassis

Big-selling Melbourne caravan manufacturer New Age is popping the champagne corks at its Epping, Victoria production facility after rolling out its 20,000th chassis since it began producing its own RVs about 14 years ago.

The Walkinshaw engineered 150mm galvanised steel chassis was constructed off-site and will provide the platform for a 16ft pop-top version of the Manta Ray - a New Age model that was first introduced in 2010 but was comprehensively updated in 2020.

“It’s a fantastic milestone seeing our 20,000th chassis off the production line, and on top of that, the unit being a 16ft pop-top is a fantastic link to our history and journey here at New Age Caravans,” said New Age Managing Director, Chris Polites.

“It’s a significant achievement that we are very proud of internally, but importantly, it’s a great celebration of local manufacturing here in Australia, which is really bouncing back after the challenges of the last few years.

“We look forward to the handover of the caravan later this year to the selling dealership in Melbourne, and hope the new owner enjoys their journey.”

Since opening in 2010, the New Age Caravans' Epping factory in Melbourne's northern suburbs has produced more than 70 different models from small caravans to larger toy haulers.

However, the New Age range was recently cut back to six full-height caravan models and two pop-tops, after production of its recently updated Wayfinder camper trailer was halted earlier this year.

A New Age spokesperson said the Wayfinder which was introduced in 2018 as a more stylish but pricier alternative to the popular Jayco wind-up campers, is still available as a special customer-order, but otherwise is no longer being built and likely to be re-introduced as a new design at a later date.

Like other Australian caravan manufacturers New Age has struggled in recent times with production delays due to COVID-related issues including staff shortages and supply chain hold-ups, resulting in extended wait times for caravan orders as demand for RVs sky-rocketed during the pandemic.

However, in its most recent CEO update, New Age said it expected to be back to "a 100% workforce level in line with our desired production requirements (from June this year). The production team have also restructured their facilities to increase their efficiencies".

Similar to Jayco in 2021, New Age has also cancelled most show appearances in 2022 along with putting a stop to development and prototype projects, as it focuses on fulfilling existing customer orders

New Age has been fully owned by the Walkinshaw Group since late-2018, and says it currently employs around 300 staff locally and rolls out in excess of 2000 towed RVs annually.