Whilst I agree, wouldn’t you think that at least one CEO would check other manufacturers reviews & think, ‘hang on, let’s get our fingers out & do better than the competition so we get a bigger slice of the market’?
Could happen, though historically its not been needed so far; as implied its in our gift to precipitate it, or try.
IMO, like the UK car industry it will fail to see in time, really hope for those that work for the owners of the caravan builders it pans out differently.
Think more likely the lucrative alternative to build houses on the factory sites will be way too appealing to the land owners involved.
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On reflection there have historically been some "do it better" moments, but these have been in the build technology rather than the execution/quality control of the process; notably here Elddis development of their bonded system "Solid", Bailey's into their permutations of "Alu-Tech", and Swift briefly into their bonded woodless system that they offered for a while before pulling it.
All sadly IMO let down by the sloppy attention to doing the build executions properly time after time. Plus, the contractual model they have with their dealers and that in turn playing through to how they treat their end customers.
A lack of interest in where the money really comes from and with it, at least in a normal market place where there is a need to be attentive to "please". However, on this last point, "a normal market place" UK caravanners collectively seem to buck market normality and be content to buy into the same deficient issues repeatedly.
Technically on top of all this, again IMO the adoption and steadfast retention by some with the use of ABS plastic for integrity critical body items where failure levels are so high because of the inherent nature of the product. Particularly its aging, degradation from UV and intolerance of stressing, make for high levels of water ingress damage to the van's critical structure. Basically, used as it is designing in high levels of failure. As elsewhere ABS can be used to good effect for styling finishers, but only where they play no part in the integrity of the product itself.
All said, IMO they face having the wrong product for the emerging market, we simply will not be able to lug our ever bigger boxed home from home around in the not to distant future. New products or a disguised reincarnation of an old one will be the only products viable in a mass market.
All sadly IMO let down by the sloppy attention to doing the build executions properly time after time. Plus, the contractual model they have with their dealers and that in turn playing through to how they treat their end customers.
A lack of interest in where the money really comes from and with it, at least in a normal market place where there is a need to be attentive to "please". However, on this last point, "a normal market place" UK caravanners collectively seem to buck market normality and be content to buy into the same deficient issues repeatedly.
Technically on top of all this, again IMO the adoption and steadfast retention by some with the use of ABS plastic for integrity critical body items where failure levels are so high because of the inherent nature of the product. Particularly its aging, degradation from UV and intolerance of stressing, make for high levels of water ingress damage to the van's critical structure. Basically, used as it is designing in high levels of failure. As elsewhere ABS can be used to good effect for styling finishers, but only where they play no part in the integrity of the product itself.
All said, IMO they face having the wrong product for the emerging market, we simply will not be able to lug our ever bigger boxed home from home around in the not to distant future. New products or a disguised reincarnation of an old one will be the only products viable in a mass market.
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How long before a manufacturer starts selling direct to end user,through stand alone showrooms ?
With their massive levels of after sales attention needed to their products, I see that presenting them and buyers with big issues.
Could be cured by paying approved workshops/etc attractive levels to rework the vans, though the high need to rework vans coupled with the higher funding to sort these number of vans is likely to be huge.
Better, IMO to build them soundly in the first place, and to reshape their attitude to the end buyer, acknowledging the blindly obvious, where the money actually comes from. However, it also needs us as buyers to wake up.
Probably a Chinese manufacturer!
Various car brands have tried the agency model and then abandoned it - Daewoo, Genesis, Polestar and VW Group - but most Mercedes dealers are owned by M-B themselves.
I agree but in my dreams I can see a high quality product, sold direct to end user, low warranty claims and an attractive margin for the seller as no middle men to pay, it is happening in consumer electricals, see Dyson, G Tech etc,perhaps an opportunity for Chinese makers, just look at how their car industry is developing in UK
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