Yet another chapter in the diverse manufacturing history of Coromal Caravans is being written, with the owner of New Age Caravans, the Walkinshaw Group, set to take over production of Coromal-branded caravans at its RV factory in Epping, Victoria.
Walkinshaw has struck a deal with Tourism Holding Limited which merged with Apollo Tourism in late-2022 and has a number of locally manufactured and imported RV brands in its retail stable, including Coromal, Windsor, Adria, and Winnebago.
Over the past three years the timber-framed Coromal caravans have been manufactured by Melbourne's Majestic caravans, and for a short period before that a small number of budget-priced fibreglass Coromal vans were built at the Apollo factory in Brisbane.
The Coromal caravan brand dates back to the 1970s, and for a long time a diverse range of Coromal models rolled out of the Perth factory of Fleetwood RV, including pop-tops, luxury slide-outs and hard-core off-roaders; not to mention a largely Chinese-built camper.
"Production (of Coromal caravans) begins in the near future, and will be an addition to the New Age Caravans capacity, without impacting any of the planned New Age Caravans production levels or timelines," the Walkinshaw Group said in a short statement.
"It is another sign of strength in the Australian manufacturing industry, and a structure which works successfully amongst the Walkinshaw Automotive Group’s range of customer and OEM programmes."
While the Coromal touring and rough-road vans will be built along the same production line as New Age caravans, all sales, marketing, and aftersales will continue to be handled by Tourism Holding Limited, without change.
The Coromal manufacturing arrangement is the latest deal struck between THL and the Walkinshaw Group, with a number of big THL-owned dealerships including Kratzmann and Sydney RV recently appointed as agents for New Age Caravans.