This looks a bit worrying?
Just come across this link about Auto Trial. Now it might just be a temporary situation but if it is replicated across the industry it is a bit worrying.
David
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I saw that on another forum where it was suggested a slow down in pension pot spending might be to blame - it can’t go on forever.
It could be that the market has reached saturation point or reports of AT build quality issues are affecting sales.
It used to be a regular occurrence for caravan builders to lay off staff and stop or slow down manufacture each year. Perhaps those times are returning. Time will tell if it’s just AT or if it becomes industry wide.
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I was reading yesterday that pension pot withdrawal is continuing at unsupportable levels.
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agree that the a,asing growth over the past few years can't go on forever, even AT itself had 17% rise last year....
it may be that sales of all brands in the uk are slowing a little but one significant number I saw in the C&CC survey on another thread was that, while only 3% of uk caravan buyers bought comtinental brands, the MH ownership profile was vastly different with 30% continental brands....
that's a third of the market place that was pretty much all uk. brands just five or so years ago.....
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There are likely to be a range of factors affecting the number of people who will make a purchase with a starting price, depending on the model range, of £41969 to £73444.
Last week our local news had an interview with Brittany Ferries who say that bookings 'are well down' on the normal levels. We then had a piece on why people are choosing to stay in the UK, the Southwest in particular, for their holidays.
Any guess as to the main reason given for these two things?
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Last week our local news had an interview with Brittany Ferries who say that bookings 'are well down' on the normal levels. We then had a piece on why people are choosing to stay in the UK, the Southwest in particular, for their holidays.
Any guess as to the main reason given for these two things?
Brexit and uncertainty?
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Whatever the situation at AT I feel it’s the way of the world that everything evolves the suit the situation at that moment in time. Businesses are just part of that evolution. I personally do not feel surveys are always helpful as questions can be worded ambiguously. We are I feel living though a very small part of history where many factors contribute to how things evolve. Good luck to AT - hope they survive.
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There are very few motor caravan makers in the uk compaired to the huge array made overseas where it is "motor caravan" friendly?and has been for many years, so it is quite reasonable that UK buyers seem to get theirs where there is far more choice
,And as for the pension pot generation ,i read an article recently where those who do draw down from their pensions are now looking at putting it into increasing the investment rather than losing money on a spending spree i.e. LVs or they are even more likely to help their offspring get on the property ladder where the money will appreciate,
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I hope they survive, better to pull their horns in now rather than struggle in the future. They say they are still profitable and have good order books. Unfortunately it can be off putting to new purchasers to read this type of news.
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A weak £.
Less money in people’s pockets.
Fear that Europeans will view us as disruptive and stupid.
Concerns over suicide attacks by extremists.
Warmer/ drier UK summers.
Childhood memories of idyllic locations in the UK, which turn out to be overcrowded and littered today.
Less road miles = greener to stay in the UK
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It’s not just AT. The whole motor industry is in a turmoil at the moment, being hit with different factors. We passed the Jag factory last week near Coventry, I think they are currently on a three day week while things get realigned. It’s not that uncommon in the motor trade.
There’s a lot of misleading information out there at the moment, worry about fuel types, worry about Brexit, new emissions tests, etc... Joe Public in general hasn’t really got a clue, and the media hypes up every trade meeting, every time someone from our Government says hello to a European leader.
The trick is not to believe all the guff that is put out there, but just make your own mind up. We run two diesels, including MH, a Petrol/LPG hybrid, and an old classic that only likes top class tipple to get her about. We haven’t thought about losing or changing any of them. The cost of running them hasn’t altered much, we can still get fuel reliably for them all. So why worry.
If build quality issues are to blame, then the company is reaping as it is sowing, and serves as a warning to others to up their game.
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As JVB say they are owned by the Trigano Group (France) so much depends on the market in general and what the group plans to do. At present the group is doing well but they are in France not the UK and that might be part of the issue?
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Meanwhile, over the Humber, slightly different holiday accommodation being successfully exported.....
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Perhaps people are starting to get the jitters about diesel engines? The price of diesel has increased by a third in the last two years. I know we have been there before but the price and the general chatter about the use of diesel its always negative. If you are just a car owner you have a fair choice of alternatives and whilst not perfect you could probably manage with an alternative tow car, but a motorhome? I think there are around 20 towns and cities in the UK which have been told they must improve the standard of their air quality. Take for example Bath which has published details of a clean air zone which takes in all of the central area. So anyone going the most direct route to say the Bath Marina site would pay £9 each time the went through the city. I am using this just as an example and I know from some routes you wouldn't be affected but probably a sign of the future?
David
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And Hymer are now US owned!
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Cambridge have been considering banning all combustion engined vehicles from the city centre. Only electric vehicles will be allowed! In London this is already being trialled along two streets.
Other moves I have read about is the weight limit of a category B driving licence might be raised to 4.25 tons to take into account the heavier weight of electric vans and cars.
peedee
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We don't go through Bath to get to Bath Marina
MH owners have realised (way before caravanners) that there's a whole world of choice out there.
AT doesn't have caravan sales to help it out like Bailey and Swift do, and while uk vanners still buy uk caravans the pressure may not be quite so keen as at AT.
other Trigano companies are doing great here...Roller Team, Mobilvetta, Benimar etc
AT were last seen building PVCs for Benimar.....the Benivan.
the other thing is price....as mentioned above...a fully loadedFrontier model can be touching £85k...
i was talking to the sales manager at a local dealer a few weeks backlist prior to the NEC show who told me Swift dealers were 'begging' them tio look at the latest Kon Tiki prices as they could breach the £100k barrier...
that places them (and the top line ATs) up against some pretty heady eestablished competition.
or look at it another way....fully loaded Mobilvetta A-class at around £67k.
with these Swift And AT not being A-class vans ( normally a £10k-£12k premium) their products suddenly look mightily expensive when compared to A class offerings from Rapido, Pilote, Knaus, and even some of the lower end Carthagp/Hymer models
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I thought I read in the press recently that AS we're going to be selling a cheaper range of coach builds built in Italy...I presumed built within the Teigano group...
like AT, AS products are getting mightily expensive and perhaps they need to fill in a little with a more affordable range?
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Hi All, quick update on my earlier post. The reason given by BF was Brexit and the reason given for staying in the Westcountry were Brexit and the weather.
Interestingly a newspaper piece about the BF comments said that bookings for 2019 were about 2% down on this time last year but then pointed out that bookings for 2018 were up by that amount on 2017.
I have been unable to find any evidence that BF attributed that upturn to Brexit!
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further to my above post, it's the McLouis brand that are making the coachbuilt vans and being sold from AS, Marquis (and selected other) outlets.
like many brands (even the most expensive) lower priced sub brands are being introduced (Carado, Sunlight, Malibu etc) to keep the attraction going with younger/first time buyers....hence the AS move.
eeven Elddis are having PVCs built for them for the first time...
Re: the OP, AT have had the Tribute Brand for some while (originally just PVCs but now a larger range incl coachbuilts) and I wondered if sales are moving down from some of ATs more expensive lines into the equivalent (but cheaper/less well equipped) Tributes?
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We have a recently new AT and (touch wood) are pleased with it, and would, one day, consider another (along with an Elddis 194 which is currently top of my "favourites" list). But I will wait as long as possible before I change it.
This is not down to Brexit, which won't affect my motorhoming, we go abroad two or three times a year, but on a plane....
More to do with the cost of M/H's seeming to creep up far faster than me & OH get pay rises, and judging by the supplement in this months MMM magazine, there are so many new M/H's competing for business that not every manufacturer can get away with increasing volume & prices.
In a way AT are lucky, look at the entire Michelin factory closing in Scotland, 850 jobs going, but am I surprised, I haven't ever bought a Michelin tyre other than it coming on a new car/van, they are just too expensive....
A discretionary spend of around the £50k mark on a M/H is an extreme luxury (or so the OH tells me...). In generally uncertain times luxury sales will be first to be hit. Couple that with how I suspect many are funded, pension pot or inheritance money, both of which will diminish in future as decent pension pots (final salary) dissappear and equity release schemes see our inheritance dissappear as the in laws go off on endless cruises funded in this way....
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46095038
If Briitany Ferries are worried about Brexit they could start by asking their government to make more positive statements about how easy it will be for Brits to enter France post Brexit.....!
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