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NEWS
Roma backs fifth-wheelers
Melbourne manufacturer enters niche market abandoned by Jayco earlier this yearIn a year when Jayco withdrew quietly from fifth-wheeler manufacture, one of Australia's oldest RV nameplates – Roma – has jumped back in, revisiting a market it vacated 28 years ago.
The result is a stylish 25ft internal length caravan based on Roma's existing range-topping Elegance model, which is expected to sell fully equipped for around $115,000.
The impetus for the return to the niche Australian fifth-wheeler market has come from a consortium of local caravan dealers who found the American-built RVs increasingly expensive because of the weakened Australian dollar and also increasingly out of step with local buyer tastes in terms of décor and equipment.
The principals of City RV in Wagga Wagga, Caraworld in Arundel on the Gold Coast and Adelaide 5th Wheel & RV Centre drew up plans jointly for a new fifth wheeler and approached Roma to produce a prototype before commissioning a production run.
The long-standing Campbellfield-based caravan manufacturer jumped at the chance to re-enter the market and the prototype Roma fifth wheeler is currently on a show and display tour to garner sales.
To build the caravan in a short period, the initial Roma fifth wheeler was based largely on a Jayco fifth-wheeler chassis, but Chris Dennis of Wagga's City RV says that other chassis may be considered in the future.
Similarly, the slide-out club lounge with its Lifco mechanism on the prototype will be larger on future production units and other luxury features will be added, such an electric step.
Dennis said that while American-built fifth wheelers were becoming increasingly expensive because of the lower exchange rate of the Australian dollar, there was also a clear preference amongst local buyers for Australian décor.
"Ninety per cent of customers want gloss furniture and the features they are familiar with in our luxury caravans," he said. "Many see the American interiors as dated."
Named the Nullarbor, the key feature of the 2.8 tonne tare weight Roma fifth wheeler is that it has been designed from the outset to be hauled by the latest crop of locally available dual cab utes, like the Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, Holden Colorado and Isuzu D-Max.
All will accommodate the vehicle's 360kg pin weight and its estimated 3490kg ATM.
It has also been designed to pivot on Hayman Reese's fifth-wheeler hitch, as all three caravan dealers in the Australian consortium are also approved Hayman Reese dealers and installers.
Three different floor plans will ultimately be offered by the three Roma fifth-wheeler dealers, who will serve as the only official sales outlets for the model, while warranty and customer support will be provided by Roma's existing national dealer network.
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Written byMichael Browning
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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