There is no shortage of work at Trigano. When shutdown during confinement, the factories of the French manufacturer of motorhomes have seen orders accumulate and are trying to catch up. Because as summer approaches, the urgency is to deliver. "We brought everyone back in early May," says François Feuillet, CEO of Trigano. In Tournon-sur-Rhône (Ardèche), where the Challenger and Chausson brands are produced, the 900 employees on the site returned to work. Because the order books are full and customers began to get impatient five weeks before the start of summer holidays. “The client was very patient. Now he wants his motorhome. "
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Orders placed in the fall are usually delivered in the spring. But with the health crisis, the manufacturers of motorhomes - including Trigano, which represents 25 brands and is the European leader in the sector - fell two months behind in their deliveries. “The Covid-19 arrived during periods of major sales, major manufacturing and large deliveries in April and May. In Tournon-sur-Rhône, for example, we had a lot of orders in progress when we had to interrupt production. So, inevitably, in the Ardèche factory, there has been a traffic jam since the resumption of activity.
"The safest place to spend your vacation"
Despite everything, François Feuillet wants to be optimistic for the future of his group, which produces 40,000 motorhomes per year and employs more than 8,000 people across Europe, for a turnover of 2.3 billion euros. last year. "The motorhome is a product that is growing steadily and has a huge future," he says. With the Covid-19 crisis, the strong man from Trigano even claims that he has become “the safest place to spend a vacation. Motorhomes do not take the train, do not go to the hotel, or to the restaurant. Places that promote the circulation of the virus ”.
His group, which has in its ranks the two best-selling brands in France, Challenger and Chausson, but also Adria, the leading brand in Europe bought in 2017, therefore expects to see motorhome sales explode in the coming months. years. "We are the third French car manufacturer behind Renault and Peugeot", likes to remind François Feuillet. “The important thing for us was to relaunch the machine to guarantee employment, the sustainability of the group but also that of our network of distributors and dealers who has suffered in recent months. "
