Malibu Motorhomes: 2025 Essential Guide
Malibu, and it's parent company, Carthago, have an eye on creating lighter motorhomes for the coming season, both with a view to driving licence restrictions and the opportunities for great payload or being able to specify nice-to-have options...
Page contents
- About Malibu
- Malibu T/I 450 RB-LE
- Malibu T/I 490 RB-LE
- Highlights of Malibu's 2025 motorhomes
- About our magazines
Words by MMM Deputy Editor, Rachel Scholes
Photos courtesy of Malibu
About Malibu
Malibu is a sister brand to luxury German manufacturer, Carthago, offering great-value motorhomes with a different style.
Contact details
Web:
Address:
Malibu GmbH,
Carthago-Ring 1,
88326 Aulendorf,
Germany
Facebook:
Instagram:
Youtube:
Malibu T/I 450 RB-LE
Specifications
Price:
From £83,940
Base vehicle:
Fiat Ducato or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
Layout:
Twin single beds
Berths:
4
Travel seats:
4
Length:
7.00m – 7.18m
Width:
2.27m
Gross weight:
3,500kg – 4,200kg
Payload:
tbc
Less is more. This isn’t just a mantra for minimalist enthusiasts in the guise of Marie Kondo – it’s the defining principle behind Malibu’s range of motorhomes for the coming season.
The T/I 450 RB-LE has been made more compact for the new season, clocking in at 7.18m for the A-class and 7m on the low- profile. Plus, you can opt for a Mercedes Sprinter chassis or the Fiat Ducato.
The former comes equipped with an AL-KO “special light” low frame, allowing for both a ‘lightweight’version at 3,500kg as well as the ‘comfort’edition, which weighs in at 4,200kg. So far, less certainly equals more.
Inside the 450 RB-LE, that reduced length doesn’t compromise quality; you get a practical, intelligently designed motorhome withplenty of modern comforts.
In particular, the luxury washroom provides a separate shower cubicle opposite the washroom, comprising a toilet, cabinet and washbasin.
With the washroom door configured across the motorhome and a wooden sliding door closing off the bedroom, you create a luxury space the full width of the motorhome
Two single beds lie beyond this palatial washroom, with an extension easily assembled to create an extra-large bed if desired.
Half of each bed raises to reveal wardrobe compartments, which, when combined with the sliding door to the washroom, builds a dressing area that surpasses many bricks-and-mortar homes.
Overhead storage lockers, individual reading lights and a skylight complete the sense of luxury at the rear of the vehicle. Heading towards the front, the kitchen provides a three-burner hob and good storage space, though a narrow work surface once the sink is in use. Opposite is the 133-litre Slimtower refrigerator in a sleek, matte black finish.
Beyond is a comfortable lounge finished in a textured, light grey material, with a built-in TV by the door and above which lies an optional drop-down bed that increases the 450 RB-LE’s capacity to four.
Malibu T/I 490 RB-LE
Specifications
Price:
From £90,170
Base vehicle:
Fiat Ducato or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
Layout:
Twin single beds
Berths:
4
Travel seats:
4
Length:
7.35m – 7.52m
Width:
2.27m
Gross weight:
4,200kg
Payload:
tbc
The 490 RB-LE has no lightweight option but you can choose between a Fiat Ducato or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis, taking the total length to 7.52m for the latter.
Both models are available as a low- profile (T) or A-class (I) motorhome, and both provide the luxury washroom that so excels in the aforementioned 450 RB-LE.
‘Comfort’ is the category of this 4.2-tonne motorhome and it abounds within. Additional features within the 490 RB-LE include a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe between the bed and washroom, which complements the superb storage already found through Malibu’s motorhomes.
One highlight is the swivel shoe compartment housed beneath the bench seat, providing a neat solution to keeping the central walkway clear.
Externally, the new 490 RB-LE shares the elegant Dynamic Design rear end with its smaller sibling, with its rear lights featuring a distinctive angled profile.
On the Sprinter chassis, the T models of the 450 and 490 are available with a unique Obsidian Black Metallic decal instead of the standard Arctic White.
The result is a smart exterior that neatly complements the crisp, light hues of the interior, with the curved overhead lockers matching the rounded corner pillars externally.
An optional drop-down bed lowers from above the front lounge to provide the two additional sleeping spaces beyond the single beds at the rear of the 490 RB-LE, with attractive LED lighting running along the wood panelling of the drop-down bed.
Lighting is a strength throughout, with separately controlled ambient and main lights creating a cosy atmosphere accentuated by that wood panelling.
Highlights of Malibu's 2025 motorhomes
- Malibu’s range of motorhomes is expanding considerably with the addition of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis for both its coachbuilt and A-class models, increasing from a total of nine motorhome layouts to 21 (10 coachbuilt and 11 A-class).
- That’s a major investment from the Carthago Group and provides a superb range of layouts and weight classes for customers to choose from.
- The addition of the lightweight models up to around seven metres in length helps to make Malibu motorhomes more appealing to customers with a standard driving licence.
- These editions clock in at 3,500kg gross weight and improve manoeuvrability and fuel consumption, without needing a downgrade in the quality of furnishings or comfort within.
- 4.2-tonne comfort models allow you to increase the payload if you have a C1 category driving licence, so you can get behind the wheel of motorhomes weighing over 3.5 tonnes.
- All of Malibu’s motorhomes for the 2025 season feature high-quality fittings and bodywork, with a notable feature being the double floor throughout each vehicle that creates an underfloor heating effect.
- Handy swivel shoe compartment in the 450 and 490.
- Motorhomes feature a bicycle and pedelec garage with a height of 1.2m (all except the 500 RB-QB, which ranges from 1.12m to 1.24m).
- New Dynamic Design rear end has curved corner pillars and distinctive rear lights.
- Low-profiles get the option of a metallic black cab paint.
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