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19/09/2011
By ALISTAIR KENNEDY
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There’s been much concern expressed recently about the continuing decline in the level of Australian manufacturing, so it’s heartening to be able to report on a segment of the automotive industry that’s resisting this trend and indeed expanding.
Camper trailers are very much an Australian niche industry given our country’s combination of a high standard of living and rugged outback terrain. With the baby boomer generation now retired or approaching retirement there’s a growing demand for caravans and camper trailers as the grey nomads hit the road.
These affordable and practical travel vehicles started to become popular in the late 1970s when fuel was scarce and many buyers switched to smaller cars. The first units were not much more than box trailers that opened out to make a tent. Since then they have grown in size and sophistication.
Today’s camper trailers have wardrobes, mains-pressure water, a gas stove, kitchen sink and refrigerator. They offer sleeping accommodation for up to eight, with the comfort of flyscreens and plastic windows. All but the lowest cost have built in three-way refrigerators, cookers and cupboards.
Typically they are about the same height as a sedan when folded for travelling, but offer more than adequate headroom when the roof is up. Their low height means they are more aerodynamic and can be parked in a garage or carport.
Lower weight compared with conventional caravans means they can be towed behind smaller cars.
Due to their fold-out design they often offer more interior space than mid to large caravans, but don’t have the same heat, sound and light insulation capabilities.
One disadvantage is that it’s time consuming to set up a camper trailer, not something to look forward to after a long day on the road. Between 15 and 20 minutes is required although this time will come down with practice. Some strength is required to wind up the roof, though all but the most elderly should manage with ease.
We were recently invited to the opening of the new factory of Cub Campers in Sydney’s west that is helping meet this demand. Established in 1968, Cub Campers is the second largest camper-trailer manufacturer in Australia, behind market leader Jayco and the leader in off-road campers.
The seven-million dollar expansion includes state-of-the-art production facilities aimed at holding off the ever-present threat from imported products.
During the visit we were able to spend some time with Cub Campers CEO, Roger Fagan, who explained: “Our success over the past 43 years has been built on testing and engineering our products here in Australia to cope with the corrugations, dust, pot holes and generally rough conditions. That expertise and knowledge combined with the latest technology manufacturing machinery will allow us to remain competitive with imported campers.”
Fagan, who is also the spokesman for the recently-formed Australian Manufactured Camper Trailer Guild (AMCTG) warned that an increasing number of companies are passing off imported campers as Australian made - when only minor assembly work is done here. Using imported components that have not been tested for Australian conditions.
The new factory will enable Cub to double its production capacity with virtually all components being built in-house.
There are four models in the Cub range, each with a number of variants. They range in length from the 2.2-metre Kamparoo; the 2.5-metre Supamatic; 3.0-metre Spacematic; to the 3.2-metre Spacevan. Towing heights go from 1.2 metres (Kamparoo) up to 2.0 metres (Spacevan off road models) and weight from 355 kg to 1170 kg.
Fixtures and fittings range from the most basic bed, canvas walls and fold-out floor in the $7280 Kamparoo Junior – which is so compact it can even be towed behind a motorcycle – through to the top-of-the-range Spacevan Drover which sells for $41,490 and comes with external awning, full bedding for two adults and two children, three-way 90-litre fridge/freezer, four-burner and grill kitchen stove, roll-out pantry, 127-litre water tank, deep cycle battery, three double internal power points and independent suspension.
Cub Campers have a distributor in each mainland Australian state and also export to Canada where the campers are suited to that country’s rugged interior. |
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