Who is Malibu

Who is... Malibu

In the latest of a series of motorhome manufacturer and supplier interviews we speak to Alexander Wehrmann from Malibu.

This attractively priced motorhome and campervan range from Carthago has been here for a decade and has attracted many British buyers.

The market

Malibu has been on the British market for 10 years, but only for five of those has it had a full portfolio of models. It launched its A-class and low-profiles here exactly five years after its campervans arrived on our market in 2013.

With all models coming with a high spec, a competitive price and the impressively high build quality of its parent, Carthago, Malibu was on what should have been an unstoppable upwards trajectory. But, several factors – Brexit, Covid, reduced chassis supplies, etc – have all done their best to disrupt the German manufacturer’s plans.

Malibu and Carthago’s Head of Marketing, Alexander Wehrmann, added that British buyers’ appetite for Malibu shows no signs of slowing, especially now chassis supplies are returning to normal.

Alexander says,

Delivery times

While we wait for the normality to return, there are many buyers wondering just when they will get the new motorhomes they ordered.

Alexander explains,

Popular models and typical buyers

The Malibu name has a long heritage with its parent company, Carthago: the company’s founder, Karl-Heinz Schuler, used the Malibu moniker for the very first campervan he created.

Now, British buyers can choose from the full range, which are currently sold by seven combined Malibu motorhome and campervan dealers spread across England and Scotland and a Malibu motorhome-only dealer in the Midlands.

Alexander says,

It is those additional elements like a heated double floor and a garage for scooters that sets Malibu above many competitors in this sector in the eyes of buyers. These are elements one would expect to find in a premium motorhome so they come as a very welcome surprise in anything competing in a lower segment.

Alexander says,

Great build quality, competitive pricing and high spec all appeal to buyers but there is another element – trust – that buyers want from a new brand and Malibu recognises this.

Alexander says,

The current range

Malibu currently offers seven Ducato-based campervans in the UK. Two layouts are featured across the seven models – rear fixed transverse double bed or twin single beds – and these are available in three specification levels.

The Compact (5.41m to 5.99m), Comfort (5.99m to 6.35m) and Diversity (also 5.99m to 6.35m) campervan ranges are all two-berth as standard with the option to upgrade to three or four-berth depending on the model. This is because all the campervans, except the Comfort models, are available with an optional rising roof. All (except the Compact models) can also be ordered with Malibu’s Exclusive Line Charming in Coupe or GT Skyview versions.

The seventh and flagship 6.35m-long campervan, the Malibu Van GT Skyview 640 LE RB, tops the range with twin single beds and a split central shower room/WC that can be closed off from the front to create a large rear en suite bedroom.

In its coachbuilt range, there are four A-class models, three of which have twin rear single beds in differing length bodies – the I 430 LE (6.95m), the I 460 LE (7.25m) and the I 490 LE (7.50m) – and one island bed model, the I 500 QB (7.48m).

And there are four low-profiles, which follow the same pattern with three single rear bed models – the T 430 LE (6.90m), the T 460 LE (7.20m) and the T 490 LE (7.45m) – and one island bed model, the T 500 QB (7.43m). All the coachbuilt motorhomes, like their campervan siblings, are based on the Fiat Ducato.

Our Malibu motorhome and campervan reviews

The Van Charming GT 640 LE RB