Exports of leisure vehicles down sharply in the first half-year due to Corona

The corona crisis did little to dampen demand for caravans and motor caravans in Germany, but new registration figures in many European countries fell sharply in the first half of the year. Accordingly, exports of leisure vehicles “Made in Germany” also developed negatively. 22,467 makes exported in the first six months represent a drop of 22.0 percent compared to 2019. 13,910 motor caravans (down 19.7 percent) and 8,557 caravans (down 25.5 percent) were exported between January and June. The export ratio fell slightly to 40.2 percent. “While the German market has so far developed positively overall in 2020, most European markets are still well below the previous year’s level due to the corona pandemic. This caused German exports to drop sharply,” explains Daniel Onggowinarso, Managing Director of the caravanning industry association CIVD. “With the gradual easing of the drastic corona measures in countries such as Italy and Spain, an enormous catch-up effect has already begun throughout Europe in June. We therefore expect a strong second half of the year. As a result, exports of German leisure vehicles should also increase again – provided the high level of domestic demand allows this,” Onggowinarso said optimistically.

Reduced production due to temporary plant closures

To protect employees from a corona infection and because of supply chain delays, almost all German manufacturers had to temporarily cut back production or close their plants in April and May. This meant that the record level of previous years could not be maintained. Motor caravan production fell by 12.6 percent to 36,066 vehicles, while caravan production fell by 25.5 percent to 19,870 units. A total of 55,936 leisure vehicles have rolled off the assembly lines in Germany so far in 2020 – a drop of 18.3 percent compared to the first half of 2019: “We lost about a month’s output due to the Corona-related plant closures, but the lines are running at full capacity again everywhere. If the recovery continues as expected in the second half of the year, manufacturers will also be looking for new personnel again, especially with manual and technical skills,” Onggowinarso explains.