1:12 pm, August 25, 2020
Caravan and motor home dealers have seen a sharp increase in sales since lockdown – with one dealer reporting sales are far exceeding all expectations.
Prices for caravans and motor homes are rising sharply as new research shows more people in the UK are planning to take on a Staycation.
Robinsons Caravans, which is based in Brimington, Chesterfield, has said sales of new and used caravans have increased by nine per cent and 14 per cent in June and July respectively compared to the same months last year.
Motorhome sales are also booming for the firm even though they’ve only just started selling them.
Paul Seabridge, CEO of Robinsons Caravans, said: ‘Regardless of coronavirus, people still want to go on holiday and need to recover from the stresses of lockdown and the crisis overall.
‘It is now harder to travel overseas and more expensive to do so, as a result, more people are turning to caravan holidays in the UK, and this is reflected in our increase in sales.
‘We have also seen a substantial increase in enquiries from potential first-time buyers, particularly from a new, younger demographic than we have sold to in the past.’
Callum Laing, CEO of MBH Corporation which owns the dealership, added: ‘We are delighted to have acquired Robinsons Caravans earlier this year.
‘The trend for holidaying in caravans and motorhomes, especially among a younger demographic was already looking very strong.
‘The pandemic has just reinforced many of the benefits for holiday makers.’
MBH Corporation surveyed 1,000 Brits and found that 20 per cent are still planning or considering a caravan holiday this year while 36 per cent said it will be their first caravan or motorhome holiday in 2020.
With restrictions on overseas travel and holidays, nearly half (46 per cent) said they only went on a caravan holiday or planned to do so because of the coronavirus crisis.
It’s these people rushing to the market that have pushed prices up.
For those people who chose a caravan holiday as their second-choice vacation this year, the main reasons for doing this were not wanting to travel abroad (54 per cent), preferring not to fly (49 per cent) and to save money (30 per cent).
Some 29 per cent didn’t want to stay in a bed and breakfast or hotel during the Covid-19 crisis.
In June, Car Dealer reported that auction and retail prices for motorhomes were booming while Auto Trader had seen caravan advert views up 18 per cent and motorhome adverts up 17 per cent.
Peter Vaughan, editor of Which Motorhome Magazine, said at the time that he ‘wasn’t surprised’ prices were going up.
He said: ‘It’s a combination of people not wanting to holiday abroad, get on a plane or a cruise and looking for a safe and enjoyable holiday at home.
‘Pricing earlier this year was strong as dealers could not get hold of quality used stock and that was even before coronavirus. A number of factors combined then which saw stock dry up and that has got worse now.’
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