Corona winner: Motorhomes more in demand than ever

Created: 01/20/2022, 16:07

The Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf is an Eldorado for caravan fans.

© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

In times of a pandemic, many people prefer a vacation in the fresh air.

The manufacturers of mobile homes and caravans report record sales - and can hardly keep up.

Frankfurt/Main – Germany's manufacturers of mobile homes and caravans are storming from record to record in the Corona * crisis.

Despite a sharp drop in production in the second half of the year, companies delivered more recreational vehicles in 2021 than ever before.

Of the 130,666 units, almost 55,000 were exported, as reported by the CIVD industry association.

It could have been much more than the 12.8 percent increase in production, as CIVD President Hermann Pfaff explained.

From the middle of the year, manufacturers felt the effects of the problems in the supply chains and higher material prices more and more.

Because a few parts were missing, almost finished mobile homes had to be temporarily stored.

After all, a number of vehicles were not even built due to a lack of chassis, as the Hymer managing director reported.

Vacation: RVs in the fast lane

In the overall European market with around 260,000 new leisure vehicles, Germany remains by far the most important single market with 106,138 new registrations.

The mobile homes are clearly in the fast lane.

With 81,420 vehicles, they achieved growth of 4.3 percent and thus achieved the eleventh record year in a row.

The number of caravans fell by 15.2 percent to almost 25,000 units compared to the strong previous year.

Total sales including imports fell by one percent in Germany.

For the next two years, the opinion research institute Allensbach has identified a considerable buyer potential on behalf of the association.

After that, 1.3 million people are considering buying an RV and 700,000 are considering getting a caravan.

In the future, the 1.8 million German mobile home owners will overtake the 2 million caravan owners.

According to Allensbach expert Michael Sommer, those interested in camping primarily expect independence (88 percent) and closeness to nature (75 percent) from this form of vacation.

In third place among their motives, the participants at 62 percent named the presumably higher security against corona infections.

Camping hype: pitches are getting tight

Because it is becoming increasingly tight on the German parking spaces, the association offers advice for interested municipalities that want to participate in the growing holiday market.

The German Economic Institute for Tourism estimates sales of motorhomes and campers for 2020 at around 14.1 billion euros.

In any case, the vehicle manufacturers are preparing themselves for continued very high demand, which ensures flourishing business with decreasing problems with material and supplier parts.

“Caravanning as a form of holiday is not only very popular in Germany, but throughout Europe.

The demand for German motorhomes and caravans is unbroken," said CIVD Managing Director Daniel Onggowinarso.

In 2021, a record turnover of 13.9 billion euros was achieved, which was 12.1 percent above the previous year.

In addition to the 7.5 billion euro business with new vehicles, the used trade (plus 6.3 percent to 5.2 billion euros) and the sale of accessories (plus 14.2 percent to 1.2 billion euros) also boomed.