Sales growth continues apace in 2018 in the European caravanning industry

The outstanding sales results for new caravans and motor caravans in the European market (an 8.7 percent increase in sales for the period January through April 2018, relative to the same period last year) come on the heels of last year’s outstanding sales performance for the European caravanning market. During the first four months of this year, a total of 75,983 new leisure vehicles rolled out of dealers’ showrooms in Europe, with virtually all national markets registering sales growth. Particularly impressive were sales in Norway (+18.9 percent), Spain (+18.5 percent), Germany (+16.0 percent), Denmark (+14.3 percent) and Belgium (+13.4 percent).

Sales of motor caravans in the European market this year have outstripped the record sales in the prior year for January through April. With 47,851 new vehicles sold, sales were up 15.2 percent over the prior year’s sales. Germany remains by far the national market with the highest sales, registering a sales increase of 19.8 percent for the first four months of this year, relative to the same period in 2017. Germany is indisputably heading for its eighth successive year of record sales and thus remains the main driver of sales growth in the European motor caravan sector. Other national motor caravan markets are also doing quite well for themselves. Particularly notable in this regard are the excellent sales growth rates in Norway, Belgium and France, where sales for the first four months of this year are up 44.2

percent, 15.9 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively. Even more striking is the outstanding sales growth that has been achieved in the key southern European markets of Spain and Italy, where sales are up 27.0 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively. These markets have been stabilising for several years and are now on a major upswing.

Since the beginning of the year, the European caravan segment has kept pace with last year’s positive results, with 28,132 new vehicles sold (-0.7 percent). Particularly noteworthy in this regard are the strong sales figures for the period in Germany, where 9,088 units were sold during the first four months of this year, representing an 8.8 percent jump relative to the same period last year.