FUEL CRISIS
What about the cost of caravans? After all, it isn’ t just the global fuel supply that’ s been impacted but products derived from oil / petrol, such as plastic, too.
Mr Lamont believes it’ s too early to tell, though as Australians stare down the barrel of impending interest rate rises, there is going to be a consolidation of the RV marketplace in the coming months. After all, this country is home to hundreds of RV manufacturers in a discouraging economic environment. While the cost of caravan construction is going to increase, it’ s feasible that many manufacturers will seek to avoid passing those costs to their customers as much as possible in order to remain competitive.
He said, too, that some manufacturers continued to function at post-covid boom levels, with scope to scale back operations in line with reduced demand.
“ People don’ t want to downsize their businesses, they want to grow them, but now is the time where people have to be cleverly investing in marketing and R & D, and looking at some of the overheads that crept in during the post-covid boom.”
He views the months to come as a‘ re-setting’ period for the industry in which the strong and the savvy will find a way forward, while less-resourced or less-wellmanaged RV manufacturers will fall by the wayside.
At the time of writing, he said there was plenty of anecdotal evidence showing customer interest remained in various sectors of the market, though economic uncertainty was understandably making it difficult to convert that interest into sales.
Back when I owned this Goldstream camper, diesel cost about $ 1.50 per litre. Those were the days...
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