IMPORTS
This is, obviously, a huge section of the market, in particular vans built in China for our shores. According to the report, a total of 23,244 vans and related components( the vast majority from China) were imported for sale here. In comparison to 2024, that figure represents a 16 per cent increase or 3251 units.
Interestingly, the Freight on Board metric, which quantifies the value of the imports, rose to $ 619.2 million, an increase of 12.6 per cent.
But how to square the difference in value growth with the growth in actual units? According to the report, this difference reflects the fact that consumers are voting with their wallets in this segment, with an average unit price of $ 26,638. This is a modest decrease in average price from the previous year($ 27,494).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Queensland received the highest number of imports by a wide margin: 11,525 units or 50 per cent of all RV imports( a 40 per cent increase) while Victoria came in second place with a 33 per cent market share.
BY THE NUMBERS
Each vehicle built here or imported is listed on the Register of Approved Vehicles and approved under the RVSA legislation. As such, it provides a pretty good indication of production by manufacturer( though the industry cautions it shouldn’ t be used as the sole determiner of market share).
As we can see in the following table, which is populated by RAV data, Jayco retained its lead, despite a 15 per cent drop in production. We can also see Austrack( whose vans are manufactured in China), moving ahead in leaps and bounds, while Regent RV( Snowy River), EzyTrail and MDC maintain a healthy lead over local competition.
As a side note, when I started this caper 20 years ago, I would’ ve laughed if you’ d told me that one day, the import market would be nipping at the heels of local manufacturers, such was the parochialism of the time. But here we are, with vans built overseas not just nipping at the heels but outpacing local manufacturing. China can do it cheaper and people will always prize value. Capitalism and globalism in a nutshell.
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