Elddis Caravans Sold Off
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I would predict, that nothing will change for the next few months, as the new regime takes stock. I think after that with 2018 model year the production of Elddis products will be drastically reduced. This is needed as the staff will need retraining to get the quality up and getting that culture change in place. Hopefully this will be reflected in a better quality product and lower warranty claims. Which is a win for both the customer and the company. I think that Hymer will have the financial muscle to effectively stop production to get it right. I don't think any of the British companies could do this, so get stuck in the vicious circle of churning the vans out then paying out in warranty work as it's the only way to keep the cash flow well flowing.
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Elddis could simply produce the Carado motorhome range with a UK spec. That would really change the market once the quality is right. And let's not forget that we might have lost the car brands in the UK but we build some great vehicles now, as well as great trucks, and are still a dominant force in the global bus market.
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I don't wish to decry the quality of UK trucks and buses, but when abroad all I see are Mercedes, MAN, Volvo and Scania and perhaps the odd VDL bus, in France, of course, Renault, too. DAF (ex-Leyland) are comparatively rare. Other Eurpoean manufacturers don't seem to be present very much on a global scale. The rest are all Japanese (Hino or Nissan) or the diverse American (and depending where one is in the world, Russian) truck manufacturers.
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To which the correct response is "Doh"
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I suspect Hymer wanted a foothold in the lucrative UK market and the opportunity of a ready made dealer network to distribute their products. I feel sure that they would have known about the financial status of the company in minute detail before signing on the line.
Other members have written about the quality of the Hymer product; this is both in their approach to Quality assurance (affecting every process prior to build) and Quality control (putting into practice their assured processes). Fitness for purpose is a minimum requirement that is so often lacking in our home products.
Unfortunately, we will not see the Hymer effect for some years. However, without all the design and build related warranty issues to pay for, they should be able to re-invest the money where it belongs, in the product.
Hymer is not perfect, but it does understand and execute good engineering principles. Good luck to them and the existing workforce at County Durham who can only benefit in the long term.
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We have a 2 year old Eldiss Xplore just had 2nd service and its got loads of damp,60 and 70% on one side,we got rid of our coachman caravan due to damp wanted a new one so didn't have to worry,should have saved our money, pile of rubbish worst thing we have ever bought,very dissapointed
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" They must feel that the word Hymer, will dilute the values that the Elddis brand is famous for."
You must have said that very "tongue in cheek"
I really, really hope Hymer's acquisition will dilute what the Elddis brand is famous for and very much to the benefit of everyone involved, right from the workforce to the end users.
I will willingly concede they are not perfect but IMO are in a different league when it comes to product durability and build quality out of the factory; as said IMO.
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hymer (and Adria, Dethleffs and others) are marketing cheaper 'sub brands' across europe, so have direct experience of getting well priced 'quality' into lower priced brands
its perfectly possible for Hymer to raise the bar with Elddis, but there will be some process changes for sure...
if you look at the brands in the Hymer portfolio, currently Elddis can only dream of commanding the same respect as some of these....hopefully, they will start to move in the right direction.....
i wish them well.
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Just confirm my tongue was so far in my cheek, it looks like I will need surgery to remove it.
I think it's interesting that the Elddis website makes almost no mention of the takeover. It still refers to it as the explorer group. This is a contrast to North America where Hymer acquired a company called Roadtrek last year. They are continuing to make their own Rv's but also and as I understand it on a seperate line Hymer branded RV's built on Dodge chassis. Even more surprisingly they are going to build in NA Eriba Touring vans (Badged Hymer).
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