Redundancies at Swift and a Factory closed.

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Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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The reality is that on threads one thing leads to another. Is that really a problem:rolleyes:
It's not a problem on a thread like this where no specific question has been asked by an individual member.

It can become a problem when someone asks a specific question and a long winded off topic debate ensues, full of pseudo technical theory and conjecture which swamps the OP and has been known to put members off posting and ultimately off using this forum.
 
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Jan 31, 2018
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Totally agree Parksy-caravan forums seem to be far worse for this than any other forum I have ever been on. I love the forum though!
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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QUOTE="JezzerB, post: 486876, member: 18024"]
Totally agree Parksy-caravan forums seem to be far worse for this than any other forum I have ever been on. I love the forum though!
[/QUOTE]

Better not try the Subaru Owners Forum then Jezzer. It may be that caravaners just like a chat, especially when you are getting ready to hitch up and leave a site.:eek:
 
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Jun 20, 2005
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Caravan Times take. It does seem the motor home part of the business has taken the brunt of this reduction in staff and premises. 2017 saw the highest registration of new motor homes over the last 20 years. Caravans however have never reached the high of 2007.
The comments regarding the New VED probably has had an adverse effect on MH sales.
still very sad for those who no longer have a job.
 
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I understand the market is dire, along with the motor industry. If it wasn’t for PCPs the car market would be worse. People are short of money, wages still lower than 2008 allowing for inflation. House prices high, private rents very high and folks have to make choices. Quality control in caravans is an issue and needs more imports to improve our quality. Remember where the Japanese cars first came here.
 
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I understand the market is dire, along with the motor industry. If it wasn’t for PCPs the car market would be worse. People are short of money, wages still lower than 2008 allowing for inflation. House prices high, private rents very high and folks have to make choices. Quality control in caravans is an issue and needs more imports to improve our quality. Remember where the Japanese cars first came here.
The CCC annual survey 2020 states that of the respondents for new caravans only 30 percent had not had to have warranty work carried out. Fixtures and fittings the main area. But for used vans the percent not having warranty work was around double. So the first owner debugs the caravan.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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... Quality control in caravans is an issue and needs more imports to improve our quality. Remember where the Japanese cars first came here.

Its shouldn't need more competition to make caravan manufacturers wake up to the problems that their ineffective systems create. There has been more than enough reports and time for them to realise that what they presently call quality control or quality assurance is far from satisfactory.

Ironically , whilst demand for new caravans/motorhomes is low, it creates a window of opportunity to start to train staff and engender a new ethos of care during production.

There are numerous examples of businesses that have made the effort to improve the consistency of their products ( not just physical products it also encompasses services) and to actively look for opportunities for improvements, that have turned out to be more profitable, and trusted by their customers.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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Its shouldn't need more competition to make caravan manufacturers wake up to the problems that their ineffective systems create.

Quite true, we have it in our power to leave them on the dealers forecourt.

As with the quoted Japanese cars, it seems it takes a wake up call for many UK buyers to even realise we don't have to accept what our companies can get away with serving up.

Companies that have a culture that quality does not matter, have zero incentive to change whilst there are customers queuing up to buy what they provide. Some of those customers, previous buyers that simply want to dump what they have , queuing in hope the new purchase might be better!

Put bluntly, "we" collectively are our worst enemy and unless we move on the standards we accept I doubt the industry will move on what they accept.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Quite true, we have it in our power to leave them on the dealers forecourt.

As with the quoted Japanese cars, it seems it takes a wake up call for many UK buyers to even realise we don't have to accept what our companies can get away with serving up.

Companies that have a culture that quality does not matter, have zero incentive to change whilst there are customers queuing up to buy what they provide. Some of those customers, previous buyers that simply want to dump what they have , queuing in hope the new purchase might be better!

Put bluntly, "we" collectively are our worst enemy and unless we move on the standards we accept I doubt the industry will move on what they accept.

The difference between Japanese car (or motorbikes) was that we had a choice. Datsun or BMC for example. With caravans the choice is much more restrictive. Whereas a Japanese car was about equal price to a British car what options are there for caravans? Possibly only German ones at a premium price, limited dealerships and generally heavy or if not heavy quite restricted payload. Hi
Given the initiatives being taken by the Chinese to build a very large number of motorhome sites and the burgeoning sales of motorhomes in China perhaps we might see caravans coming from there too. Although the transshipment costs could be high compared to the motorhome shipment costs relative to selling price.
 
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Jan 31, 2018
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I don't agree-plenty of choice out there-Caravelle if you want French, Adria, and Hobby seem to be pushing their vans-there are alternatives if you don't want to support the British worker and I love and have loved every UK built caravan we have had so far. They have been generally well built and most issues we have had have been externally sourced items our foreign made caravans would have had too.
I get fed up with UK caravan knocking, when there are so many people creating great innovative and light products-and therein lies the rub-lightness. We need to support them -our Bailey was great bar an excess of sealant everywhere-and rather too much than not enough! Thetford products were the biggest failure there but they were great in terms of instant warranty replacement-very impressed. Belfield furnishings were lovely , nicely made etc and good quality. No complaints about the UK industry so far and they always look so much nicer than their foreign counterparts. (sorry any owners out there-we all have different tastes)

incidentally if you think it's just caravans google Mercedes GLC class recalls and then put that into contrast with issues we may have with caravans; 16 plus recalls on safety critical items since 2015 -and a premium product. Not knocking Merc just putting some perspective on it.
 
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Jun 20, 2005
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I’ve heard nothing about Elddis since Hymer bought them. I wonder if their product has improved?
I have said before any new caravan should be supplied with a comprehensive workshop manual and a range of simple tools to fix the simple things, mostly trim fixtures and fittings. Appliances and more serious issues should be dealt with at your home or storage
by the supplying dealer or at worst by the manufacturer . Expecting people to tow a caravan to the dealer has long been a bug bear of mine. As Clive said after the first year most faults are ironed out . I’ve had my Wyoming from new , ten years now, and all the bugs are gone. It is still easier to fix most things but as a caution if you are not sure use a qualified mobile engineer.
 
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Jan 31, 2018
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I agree , if you can fix it yourself why not; a spring went in the handle of our Thetford Fridge in our last van-spent ages but sorted it myself with a spring from a stock i had stored up in the garage-much easier than a time consuming and expensive trip to the dealer for a warranty claim. Same with the tap-i took the tap handle off and took it to the dealer who replaced it underwarranty-i then replaced it in the van! Saves hours and lots of CO2!
 
May 7, 2012
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Looking at the magazines latest survey report the problem at Swift could be a major loss of market share which must mean fewer caravans sold and there also seems to be drop in customer satisfaction. The other point raised here is Eldiss. They will be pleased to see they have lost bottom spot but that looks to be more a drop by Lunar rather than a serious improvement at Eldiss.
 
Jan 31, 2018
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Slight improvement at Elddis but not huge over last year; given how our new van is constructed I'd hope this improves again next year-we're very impressed so far! I see Bailey have moved up-again reflects our findings when we had a Pegasus-loved it.
 

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