Confused by figures

I suspect that the difference in percentages on club sites is due to the fact that many caravans are on seasonal pitches on commercial sites and this does not happen with motorhomes.

I think current sales of caravans is about 25,000 a year.

If there is a downturn in the economy then a reduction in sales of both is almost inevitable but the lower numbers might mean less pressure on production lines and better results, hopefully. Both caravans and motorhomes are something where replacement can generally be left a bit longer so if money is tight then keeping what you have is an option.

Not sure about the point of motorhomes costing more though as a reason for caravans to do better. A caravan needs a larger than otherwise necessary car to tow it so the two can be near the same cost.

J20, I've been just as confused as you. I've been reading the figures too. Those figures have ranged between 30% & 47% of all LV's on the road are Moho's. I then read this figure did not include the likes of Ford & VW campervans(& the rest) I guess it depends on who or what organisation is crunching the numbers. There seems no definitive figure really. If all the info was collated there could be more 'none' C/vans on the road.

"Not sure about the point of motorhomes costing more though as a reason for caravans to do better. A caravan needs a larger than otherwise necessary car to tow it so the two can be near the same cost".

Ah, but few people take the kids to school, go to the shops, or library, or a hospital appointment in a motorhome....... so most motor-roamers need a second car.

My preference for a motorhome is due to:

- I can make more relaxed and impromptu/pot-luck unplanned tours with a m/h;  I'm ready to leave within 15 minutes.

- Whilst away I can move from place to place frequently and with ease. I rarely stop anywhere for more than one or two nights.

- It's more manoeuvrable and easier to park  than an outfit.

- I can use the thousands of foreign Aires in my m/h.

- I'm only getting a most uninteresting sweet Fanny Adams interest on my capital.

I am sure the figures for vehicle registrations and sales will be near enough correct. I believe Motorised Caravans is the commodity name for all types of Campervans/Motorhomes/Motorcaravans or whatever you wish to call them. I think the club's reference to the 40/60% split Motorcaravans/Towed Caravans is club site occupancy. My experience suggests it's more like 25-30/75-70%, but I'm sure it will vary locally so the club is probably about right.

According to the NCC (figures published in MMM) sales of new motorhomes in 2016 were 12332 a 16.6% increase on the previous year. Every indication from the trade is that that figure will be exceeded for 2017. Some manufacturers are reporting that their factories are working at full capacity and are not taking further orders from dealers. Obviously difficult to look further ahead although 2018 models will be launched later this year. 

If we tend to rely just on Club Together as a tool for gathering information then we miss out of a much wider spectrum of information. As one example I belong to the Bailey Motorhome Owners Group on Facebook which has over 1400 members. It seems to me that many owners are certainly under retirement age and therefore still working and the prospect of spending £50000 on a motorhome does not seem to daunt them. Some are members of the Club but many are not so it is these groups of people that the Club is trying to attract.

Another important change in recent years is that the price of caravans, especially those of a higher spec, have increased in price quite substantially and now a price in the mid £20000's is quite normal. Motorhomes on the other hand have seen the introduction of sub £40000 ranges. The price of a towcar has to be taken into account in the cost calculation and it was one of the things that persuaded us that it was the time to change to a motorhome.

Finally I would say that if the UK follows the trends in Europe motorhomes sales will eventually eclipse those of caravans. That might be a few years away yet but I suspect it is heading that way. Just as an example, years ago you would hardly ever see a Dutch motorhome as they always seemed to have caravans. In recent years there has been a swing to motorhomes.

David 

I don't think the sales figures for caravans and Motorhomes are relevant. 40% of CAMC members own a Motorhome, that's all.

As someone who owns both, all I can say is that there is perhaps too much boring amateur analysis going on at the moment, over names, how various outfits are used, which percentage figures to believe.

Different outfits, be it tent, trailer tent, camper van, caravan and motorhome, suit different people at different times in their lives, for different reasons. If the Club has finally realised that it does have a history of being rather exclusive over how it welcomes certain outfits, than hurrah that they are finally doing something about it, not before time.

Persuading some members to alter a deeply ingrained mindset will be a challenge, but much like the fate of the dinosaurs, it will be a case of evolve or eventually die out.

The 40% is not the percentage of members in the total club population. Just the levels of recent recruitment I thought. No matter really

Different outfits, be it tent, trailer tent, camper van, caravan and motorhome, suit different people at different times in their lives, for different reasons. If the Club has finally realised that it does have a history of being rather exclusive over how it welcomes certain outfits, than hurrah that they are finally doing something about it, not before time.

I never felt excluded when, many rears ago, I had a trailer tent. Maybe times have changed and trailer tents less common.

Do any UK companies still make demountables? 

ETA - Niche RV - UK dealers for Northstar Campers

Our second experience of CC in our mid 20's was a shocker. We had a tiny pop roof camper van (A60 Suntor) at the time. We pulled up at Berwick site reception all smiles, to be greeted with some grim faced green clad gremlin, who told us the Club didn't take our sort of vehicles, only proper caravans and camper vans. I was rather more tolerant in those days and invited her to take a look inside, and watch while we put the roof up and turned it into a two berth camper.

We were actually members having joined the same holiday up at North Ledaig, so were a tad grudgingly allowed on site. We did look at a Land Rover camper with roof tent after that, but no doubt that wouldn't have been allowed. It was a very inclusive snob ridden bastion of Little Britain in the early 1980's. We only joined because we needed sites with loos and showers so gritted our teeth.