RV FEATURE
They haven ’ t all been easy years . Ryan reflected on a credit squeeze in those early times , the Global Financial Crises of 2008 , and of course covid , which lead to a boom in sales as families “ grabbed a caravan ” because they couldn ’ t travel overseas . While Ryan is predicting headwinds for the Australian RV industry in 2025 , particularly for smaller players , he believes Jayco is well-placed to weather tough times .
In 2023 , local RV production achieved its highest levels since the 1970s , with 31,289 units built , and 18,971 vans imported , principally built in China . Ryan predicts 25,000 locally-produced vans will be sold in 2025 or “ perhaps as high as 30,000 ”, though the picture is somewhat complicated by the 15,000 vans currently sitting in dealers ’ yards around the country .
Nonetheless , Jayco is continuing to invest in product development . With lunch wrapped up , we began a tour of the factory . One of the significant updates to the 2025 Silverline ( and other models including the Discovery pop-top and caravan ) is the inclusion of a PET ( polyethylene terephthalate ) floor instead of the 12mm ply found on previous Silverlines . While the structural walls of the Silverlines and other models have long been composite fibreglass sandwich panels , another major change has been to swap the inner ply ‘ skin ’ of each panel for fibreglass . Both of these structural changes have required new machinery and changes to production processes .
Virtually every Jayco model was on display at Jayco HQ during a special tour of the factory as part of the company ' s 50th anniversary celebrations .
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