First half of the year: Caravanning market at a high level – despite difficult conditions

Caravanning has enjoyed great popularity in Germany and Europe for many years. The numerous advantages of mobile holidays inspire not only people with camping experience, but also many newcomers. The high demand is fuelling the market for new vehicles: German manufacturers have produced over 375,000 new leisure vehicles in the period 2020 to 2022 alone. Manufacturers’ order books remain well filled and demand is high across all sectors.

Currently, the industry is below the exceptional record levels of previous years, but in view of the difficult general conditions it achieved a good overall result in the first six months:

Two-part picture for new registrations

With a total of 54,299 new registrations (-1.6 percent) in the first half of the year, the industry is only just below the level of the previous year. The caravan sector has to measure up to the good production and sales figures from 2022 and with 12,799 new registrations is 10 percent below the previous year’s level. At 41,500 units (+1.3 per cent), new registrations of motor caravans achieve the second-best result ever for the first six months of a year.

Industry produces under difficult conditions

Stagnating supply chains and staff shortages continue to affect the production of manufacturers and suppliers, which is why new vehicles can only be built under more difficult conditions. In the motor caravan sector, the limited availability of vehicle chassis remains a key handicap in production. In principle, the availability of base vehicles has improved somewhat over the last few months – partly because motor caravan manufacturers are relying on a broader range of brands for vehicle chassis – but remains strained overall. In addition to the well-known challenges in production, there are also bottlenecks in logistics: due to a lack of capacity at transport service providers, in some cases important vehicle components are delivered late. In addition, many completed vehicles cannot be delivered to dealers and customers as planned.

This presents a very challenging situation for manufacturers and suppliers, explains Daniel Onggowinarso, Managing Director of the Caravaning Industrie Verband (CIVD): “The last few years have presented the caravanning industry with extraordinary challenges. Factors such as inflation and high energy prices have further complicated the business environment. It will take some time before our industry can produce under relatively normal conditions again. Against this background, over 54,000 new registrations in the first half of the year are a more than remarkable result.”

Although the industry is currently below the extraordinary record figures of the first years of the pandemic, Daniel Onggowinarso sees no reason for pessimism: “The caravanning industry can consider itself lucky, because despite all the crises, interest in motor caravans and caravans remains high and the potential of our industry is far from exhausted. This is confirmed not only by market data and the well-attended caravanning trade fairs, but also by studies from market research.”