Sunland Caravans booming as grey nomads hit the road

• Matthew Ogg
• From: The Courier-Mail
• March 01, 2010 12:00AM

GROWTH PHASE: Sunland Caravans CEO Roy Wyss says his business is hard pressed to cope with demand. Pic: Jeff Camden

Source: The Courier-Mail  

AS Baby Boomers cash in their super and hit the road, Sunland Caravans CEO Roy Wyss is set to double staff numbers and open new factories to meet demand.

Mr Wyss said the manufacturer was in a major growth phase and it would be a "matter of months" before the additional factories were opened near to its Caboolture base.

"We've lost two major competitors in Boroma and Golf who didn't meet the changing demands, so now the top end of the market is almost unserviced except for a couple of manufacturers," he said.

"We're expecting an increase in the market out there that could be 400 per cent of what we have right now, and we're in a place where we believe we can reach that."

He said the change was due to the Baby Boomer market shifting from overseas travel to seeing Australia, with all kinds of caravan add-ons to suit their tastes.

"They don't want to stay in one place, mowing lawns, paying rates.

"When we started building caravans seven years ago we'd put in radios, airconditioning and televisions but now we build with refrigerators, solar panels, generators, inverters, electric awnings, satellites and LCD TVs."

He said the average caravan had gone up in price from $30,000 to $80,000 since the company began in 2003, with some caravans selling for $150,000.

"This isn't even a motor vehicle we're talking about – there's no engines here.

"We're really exclusive and we build from the bottom up – we buy the steel and build the chassis."

Mr Wyss said he planned to buy machinery that could allow Sunland Caravans to build its own parts, which would drive down prices for a competitive edge.

"But the major part of our business is service and repairs – we might be selling caravans but there's a lot of second-hand ones out there needing adjustments."

Sunland Caravans currently has 25 staff.

Febuary 2010 ...

New website

Our  brand new web site. Please take the time to look around at its many new features.

Australian Small Scale Offering Board (ASSOB) listing

Sunland Caravans is excited to announce we have listed with ASSOB to offer potential investors the opportunity to share in the growth of Sunland Caravans. Go to our investor tab for more information.

 January 2010...

Winton demand increasing

The sales of Winton continue to climb as consumers discover the value in doing their research. The build quality, equipement and standard features on this premium Top of the range Van is without peer in the current market since the unfortunate demise of Boroma.

Now there are 2 models the Winton S and the Winton SE.

December 2009...

Blue Heeler

The Blue Heeler sets new bench marks in the Off Road Caravan Market with the introduction last year of the ST 09 This Model comes in a range of vans from 17'6" - 18'6" timber or Welded alluminum frames.

We now have the Blue Heeler x cape !! see this on displayed at...

Caravan & Rvs.Aust. 495 Logan Rd Stones Corner. Qld 4120 Phone 07 33242453 fax07 38476333. email gainsell@iprimus.com.au www.caravanandrvsaustralia.com.au

Mega Galvanised Chassis

Sunland has started to produce the new Mega Galvanised chassis, Better than hot dipped . Now comes with a 20 year warranty.