"Peak Caravan"
After slating the NEC for its usually woeful logistics exercise when it comes to the big shows, I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday to drive straight in and park. Exit was equally as easy.
In the show it was very quiet, no thronging crowds, never had to wait to look at any of the vans. I visited a number of dealers and got a price for the unit I was looking for. Discounts and offers abounded. Mid Sunday afternoon one of the majors had significantly more salesmen than customers on their stand.
Have we reached peak caravan? Are the new buyers keeping their hard earned under the mattress? A few of the dealers told me it had been a tough show. Are the boom times over? We will know by Christmas when the November build commitments hit the dealerships, I suspect a few Christmas and New Year hefty discounts may be around this year.
Comments
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It was pretty busy on the Friday and the accessory traders seemed to be doing ok but you could be right Phishing. There is one report I have seen that says in the first 6 month of this year there has been a 3 percent downturn in the sale of leisure vehicles compared to the same period as last year.
peedee
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Given the uncertain economic situation we are in I suppose one consequence would be people holding back from making such a large purchase. I think it might be true of dealers as well investing in stock. We have been waiting several months to see a particular model at our regular dealer and despite being told it would be in soon nothing has appeared. Having said that other models that we noticed on our last visit have clearly been sold so who knows. By chance we got into conversation at the Show with a dealer selling a PVC and he was so keen he even offered us a price on our existing motorhome without us asking for it but that price was £2500 less that another dealer had suggested our van was worth a month before. No doubt they will soon issue the official figures and I wouldn't be surprised if they were positive.
David
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The equity release boom is still strong people are "releasing" about 11 million pounds a week up to the end of last month
so there is money around ,but what it is now being spent on now is spread over with a lot going to get the children on the property ladder,,as well as buying LVs for the first time
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Perhaps it is because we usually go with the cut price voucher on club day, but we didn't think it that busy on Friday. We were able to spend a good 20 minutes in the MH we were interested in, finding out how everything worked, without any competition.
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Perhaps it was only round the trade stands Steve. I only looked in one van and never visited any of the manufacturers stands, Both Club stands were busy, especially the C&CC stand, which you would expect on Friendly Friday. Food outlets and eating areas were very busy at lunch time and I was stuck in jams leaving the NEC at about 4p.m.
peedee
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What will it be next, a damp Lunar or back to Germany. We have gone German this year after 40 years of British.
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It wouldn't put me off, either, because we're caravanners and a diesel car is essential, but diesel sales have apparently fallen dramatically since March 2017, and some of the 100,000 people who chose a non-diesel instead may well have been potential caravan owners.
1. How big is the diesel downturn? (from BBC News)
According to the SMMT, 153,594 new diesel cars were registered in March 2018, down from 244,593 a year before.
The SMMT pointed out that March 2017 was a record month for new car registrations, as customers bought new cars before changes in Vehicle Excise Duty were introduced.
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Hope you have many year's of enjoyment from your new Hobby, we have never owned one but I think they are well put together, and they are well liked all over Europe. We brought a Knaus Starclass 565 in March, and have used it all summer. We have had three twin axle 8 mitre van's over the last 15 years but have compromised space in the bathroom and a large fridge, but that's not the end of the world.
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No doubt the Hobby vans are well put together. I really like the clean lines of the interior and the foams are really comfortable. Not for me though, they don't do roomy bathrooms!
I think the size of van is important if you are in it for that amount of time then 7 and a bit metres gives a good level of comfort, smaller and you are converting space to go to bed.
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The lack of dealers in the UK has maybe always been against the sale of German van's and motorhomes, but Knaus have started about six dealer and repair outlets which I think is a first. With Hymer buying out Elddis but up to yet little change in build quality we may have more choice in years to come. We visited the NEC show two years ago and were very impressed with the Knaus 695 and got a good deal on the van we had, the only problem for us was it being over 8 ft wide, and were we keep the van at home in the back garden made it to tight a fit to get past the house and garage walls, but the van had everything we required, and our towcar would have coped with ease.
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