By Chris Littley
Caravan and motorhome dealers are experiencing a surge in demand for leisure vehicles, as the British public looks towards staycations for post-lockdown holidays.
Interest in caravans and campervans has skyrocketed in the wake of the coronavirus, which has put the idea of foreign travel well out of reach for many.
Dealerships, manufacturers and even classified listings websites have all seen a big increase in activity, reports Car Dealer Magazine.
Many people have started planning trips within the UK in anticipation of the government lifting the ban on overnight stays, which is expected to be sometime in July.
Potential caravan owners are therefore trying to secure themselves a motorhome in a climate where stock is short and demand is high, resulting in prices starting to increase.
Peter Vaughan, editor of Which Motorhome Magazine, told the news provider: “It’s a combination of people not wanting to holiday abroad, get on a plane or a cruise and looking for a safe and enjoyable holiday at home.
“Pricing earlier this year was strong as dealers could not get hold of quality used stock and that was even before coronavirus. A number of factors combined then which saw stock dry up and that has got worse now.”
Caravan dealerships only reopened to the public at the beginning of June and many are reporting an unprecedented first week in which they sold as many motorhomes as they’d expect to in an entire month.
Greentrees Caravan Store in Norfolk has had its best sales figures for a May in 15 years and has hired new staff, as well as taking all its employees off furlough.
Meanwhile, the Don Amott Group in Derbyshire has taken nearly a million pounds in deposits for leisure vehicles in just three weeks.
It had been getting round the problem of prospective customers not being able to visit the caravans to make a decision during lockdown by offering virtual tours instead.
The situation is similar online, with British Caravan Auctions (BCA) having sold all 800 lots in its first online caravan and motorhome sale since lockdown, and many of them going for well above their anticipated values.
