New releases at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show

Everyone happy with record-setting show at the NEC, Birmingham

Now the dust has settled, the various exhibitors at the NEC, Birmingham have been counting the sales and looking forward to the rest of the 2015 season. Some 87,000 people came through the doors, setting a record for the Spring event.

Plenty of new products debuted at the show, including coachbuilt motorhomes from Benimar with five models in the range and Moto-Trek with the X-Cite G which featured a slide-out lounge. The place to be for new models though was the campervan area which saw new releases from Auto Campers with a completely different Leisure Van, Horizon with the New Vito, Rolling Homes with the budget-range Shackleton, Wellhouse with the Ford Terrier High-Top and WildAx with the previously announced Pulsar.

Auto-Sleepers announced a very successful week of sales culminating in an increase of 35% on last year. On display was the all-new Stanway model, ahead of its planned summer launch, in order to obtain pre-launch feedback. Based on the LWB Peugeot Boxer van, the Stanway features a rear, fully-equipped kitchen, corner-shower washroom with a spacious front dinette and lounge area plus the upgraded 150bhp engine as standard.

Dave Williams, Sales Director for Auto-Sleeper Motorhomes commented, “To display a new and unknown concept vehicle at the expense of a proven model was a huge risk, but one which has proved to be a fantastic success for us. Feedback on the Stanway was overwhelmingly positive and to secure the first sales at the show was immense. Overall sales enquiries were strong all week across the full portfolio and bodes well for a successful season ahead.”

The Swift Group was celebrating after announcing that sales of motorhomes were significantly ahead of this time last year. The performance of the Swift range, principally the all-new Rio, was a highlight with the Swift range overall being 43% ahead of last year. Swift Group invested heavily in their motorhome ranges for the 2015 season with the addition of SMART construction in all coachbuilt ranges.

European motorhome manufacturers were also buoyant with Alexis Hacques of Rapido commenting, “We experienced a good season start with successful international shows such as Dusseldorf, Paris Le Bourget and also particularly NEC Birmingham. Europe’s economic situation leads us to be cautious, with some markets in Southern Europe still being very difficult, while others – like the UK -  contribute to overall growth. Our very dynamic product development for 2015 with, for example, the 9094dF designed especially for the British market is a main factor for our success. Also, thanks to the €/£ exchange rate, the prices of Rapido in the UK are more competitive than ever.”

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