Surge in Chinese imports

For the first time in May, more than 1000 camper trailers and caravans were imported into Australia in a single month, with most of those built in China.

A ‘snapshot’ of the growing, and ever-changing RV import market, compiled by the Caravan Industry Association of Australia using the latest ABS data, shows a steep rise in the number of overseas built RVs hitting the Australian market in recent years, driven by the flood of cheap Chinese campers that have virtually destroyed the once thriving local camper manufacturing industry, along with more Chinese caravan brands entering the market.

The number of imported campers and caravans has more than doubled over the past six years, from less than 500 a month to a high of 1113 in May this year. The RV imported market was on track to crack more than 10,000 units for a 12 month period (2017-18 financial year).

However, the stats also show a radical change in where the imported RVs are coming from. In 2012, only a handful of Chinese campers and trailers were sold in Australia, rising to around 2500 in 2014 and close to 9000 last year.

Over the same period, the number of RVs imported from the US and UK have declined dramatically. US imports (mostly large fifth-wheel caravans) reached a peak of 500-700 annually between 2013-15, before demand dropped significantly in recent years – down to just three US imports in May!

The dramatic drop in demand for US caravans could be partially attributed to well-publicised concerns around compliance and build quality that emerged during this period, that resulted in some importers shutting up shop.

Likewise, lightweight UK-built caravans were entering the country at a steady rate until about two years ago.  With the official arrival of UK brands Bailey, Swift and Elddis from around 2012, annual UK imports went from only a handful to a peak of 1000-plus caravans in 2014.

But with Elddis caravans no longer sold here, Swift turning its attention to Chinese-built models and Bailey shifting focus to its Australia-built range, British caravans are disappearing from dealers' yards, with just 10 Pommy vans arriving in May, according to the official data.

Chinese-built campers, and increasingly caravans, now comprise 87 per cent of the RV import market, with 978 units from China arriving in May. Of these, around 60 per cent ended up in Queensland, the home of some of Australia's most popular imported camper brands including MDC and Stoney Creek.

Other countries represented in the data include France (two imports in May to NSW), and Poland (six in May). The number of overseas built campers and caravans arriving in Queensland has skyrocketed over the past six years – from around 1000 in 2012 to close to 5000 in 2017.

The average ‘freight on board’ cost of each imported RV for the month of May was $11,400, with the average weight increasing to 1800kg (which suggests an increasing number of the Chinese imports are bigger caravans, hybrid campers and pop-tops).

While most Chinese-imported RVs are the smaller and lighter camper trailers, the number of Chinese caravans and hybrids available is steadily increasing, thanks to more brands like Goldstar, Snowy River, MDC, Mars, EzyTrail and Fantasy entering the market, while some Aussie manufacturers like Roma have dipped their toes into the Chinese caravan sector.

Roma’s Brendan Palmarini recently told Caravancampingsales that “caravan imports from China increased by 600 units in 2017 and they are still growing..."

"Their quality is improving, but it’s still not at the level our customers want," he said. “We still think it could be five to 10 years away before the Chinese will be able to build consistently good caravans for Australia."

While the number of imported RVs was up 16 per cent, year-on-year (9595 for the 11 month period to May 2018), the total was still less than half of the 22,381 camper trailers, caravans and motorhomes built down under in 2017 – a 2.5 per cent increase on the previous year.