We've been in Germany to see what Hobby has in store for 2017. Please click here to find out more. What do you think?
Check out Hobby's new 2017 vans!
- Thread starter LizziePope
- Start date
- May 7, 2012
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We have looked at them at a number of shows. They always look well made but we were not sold on the colour schemes and most of the layouts.
The huge range is baffling and probably if they want to mount a serious attack on the UK market they need to decide what models are best to sell over here and build up from that. Possibly they could follow Knaus and build a couple of UK specific models to get people interested.
I do get the impression they simply made the entire range available and were just happy to sell a few if people ordered them but were not seriously interested in our market. They also do not appear in any test reports which would help if they got positive reviews. Possibly the booming market with the domestic manufacturers struggling to keep up has made them look again.
The huge range is baffling and probably if they want to mount a serious attack on the UK market they need to decide what models are best to sell over here and build up from that. Possibly they could follow Knaus and build a couple of UK specific models to get people interested.
I do get the impression they simply made the entire range available and were just happy to sell a few if people ordered them but were not seriously interested in our market. They also do not appear in any test reports which would help if they got positive reviews. Possibly the booming market with the domestic manufacturers struggling to keep up has made them look again.
Raywood said:
I wasn't too sure what to expect, but the colours and materials used inside many of the new vans are seriously smart and although some of the layouts aren't what you usually see in UK caravans, it's refreshing to see something different and definitely gets you thinking about how the space could be used. Some of them really do have wow factor. You're right, all the models can be bought in the UK. Hopefully, we will be able to review some of the 2017 line-up.
we have ours on order, having had a good look at them we felt they were superior in construction to UK made vans for the same money. admittedly you dont get cookers microwaves or showers as standard equipment. But how many people actually use the ovens that are fitted in our vans and the showers. We have ordered ours from a German dealer who gave a 10% discount. for the £15000 that ours is costing we would only have got a lower range UK made van. For those amongst the caravan fraternity who use the ovens for all their cooking needs and only shower within your caravan carry on im not suggesting you should not.
Thanks for posting, Buffers. Sounds like you're very happy and you got a decent deal, too. Which model did you go for?
we have a 540 UFf in the excellant range. Also the comment that you need a heavy tow vehicle a lot of the ranges have a unladen weight of 1200 Kgs and a 300 Kg load allowance. This is at least as good as a lot of the UK vans. I cannot understand why the UK agent charges so much for the vans as the spec is the same as the rest of Europe. One can only assume that the UK agent would have the same discount as other dealers.
- Mar 14, 2005
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Buffers said:
Even though the UK is technically part of the EU(though not for much longer) we still have that very expensive strip of water between us and continental europe. In addition the importer may have to customise the caravans like changing the mains power sockets to UK three pin devises, and an umber of other items than might need to be changed before the van can be sold in the UK.
Plus the fact that Hobby are perceived to be a high quality product in a niche market which can carry a premium price.
yes the plugs need a change but they cost approx £20, otherwise they are identical, and crossing the channel is not that expensive for commercial accounts but the caravan is approx 25- 30% more expensive.
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