Best Half-Year for Caravanning Industry

Caravanning as a form of holidaying continues to enjoy great and increasing popularity, as shown by the high demand for leisure vehicles. The caravanning industry recorded the best half-year in its history despite the Corona pandemic and contact restrictions. A total of 62,575 motor caravans and caravans were newly registered in the first six months. This is 14.9 per cent more than in the first half of 2020, which had already given the industry a new all-time best. By the middle of the year, as many new leisure vehicles were registered as in the whole of 2017 – which was a new record at the time. The industry is mainly experiencing an influx of newcomers who are interested in a holiday with a motor caravan or caravan for the first time, as Daniel Onggowinarso, Managing Director of the caravanning industry association CIVD, reports: “Caravanning is one of the safest forms of holiday in these times, as you travel individually with a leisure vehicle and only with people from your own household and are largely self-sufficient thanks to your own sleeping, living, cooking and sanitary facilities.”

Difficult business environment in the first half-year

The development of the first half of the year is all the more remarkable as the business environment in the first six months was rather negative, as CIVD’s Managing Director points out: “Due to the re-increase of VAT, many customers had brought forward their vehicle purchases into the old year. In addition, the long period of very high infection rates and the Corona measures severely restricted sales and distribution. Thus, neither caravanning fairs nor the in-house fairs at dealerships could take place in spring. Potential customers, however, want to see and touch the vehicles “live”. Real product presentations speed up purchase decisions considerably. Travel restrictions at caravan and abroad have not helped growth either.”

New motor caravan registrations continue to reach new heights

The outstanding half-year result was driven by new motor caravan registrations. These increased by 22.4 percent compared to the same period last year and reached a new record for this period with 48,508 vehicles. Last month also delivered a top result: 9,388 new registrations are 2.6 percent more than in June 2020. The situation in the caravan market is somewhat different. New registrations fell by 5.0 percent to 14,067 in the first six months. The month of June was also below the previous year’s figure with 3,391 vehicles (minus 5.1 percent). According to the industry association, problems in the supply chains are primarily responsible for the decline: “The pandemic is still having a strong impact on the availability of components and raw materials worldwide. Manufacturers have many vehicles that are practically finished but cannot be delivered because a certain part is missing,” explains Onggowinarso. “However, we are optimistic for the second half of the year. If the situation in production develops positively, the mark of 120,000 newly registered vehicles could be reached for the first time at the end of the year,” says the association’s managing director.