Caravanning industry optimistic for 2020: sales growth for leisure vehicles anticipated

Given that 2019 has just gone down in the annals of the German caravanning industry as the best year in its entire history – sales of new leisure vehicles in Germany and sales revenues having both achieved record highs – German manufacturers of motor caravans and caravans are expecting sales records to be broken yet again in the coming year. According to the findings of a survey of members of the German caravanning industry association Caravaning Industrie Verband e. V. (CIVD), the majority of respondents expect domestic sales to rise in 2020. Fifty-six percent of German caravan makers feel that their sales revenues will rise in 2020, and 79 percent of motor caravan manufacturers hold this opinion as well. The remaining 44 and 21 percent respectively are expecting sales in 2020 to be as brisk as they were in 2019, and none of the respondents opined that a sales decline might be in the offing.

Solid export sales anticipated, Brexit notwithstanding

The survey also found that German makers of motor caravans and caravans expect that export sales will be solid in 2020 – though the mood is less optimistic than for domestic sales in light of the recent sales declines registered in key export markets such as Sweden and the UK. “In the UK, Brexit has been having a dampening effect on consumer spending for months now – a development reflected most strongly in caravan sales, which are more prone to decline in a weak economy than is the case with motor caravans,” noted Daniel Onggowinarso, Managing Director of CIVD. “In Sweden, a significantly higher tax on newly registered motor caravans came into force in mid-2018, which is why many consumers decided to purchase new motor caravans earlier than they might otherwise have done. This resulted in the ballooning of sales of new motor caravans, and a corresponding decline in sales in 2019,” Mr. Onggowinarso said. But given the fact that sales of new vehicles in Europe as a whole rose last year, 53 percent of the manufacturers of motor caravans expect rising exports for 2020, while 26 percent anticipate results at the good prior year’s level and 21 percent feel that exports might decline. As for caravan exports, 22 percent anticipate an increase in exports, while 44 percent expect stable export figures and 34 percent anticipate a declining export market.

“Given that the excitement about caravanning holidays exhibited by millions of Europeans continues unabated, German motor caravan and caravan makers are optimistic about the prospects for business in the coming year,” Mr. Onggowinarso said. “Apart from a handful of special cases and one-off effects, export sales of new motor caravans and caravans are going strong. But in the unlikely event that export sales do in fact take a nosedive this year, this trend will probably be offset by growing domestic consumer demand,” Mr. Onggowinarso said.