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The first half of 2021 has been the best ever recorded by the German leisure vehicle industry with almost 63,000 new motorhomes and caravans registered. The figures, reported by the German Caravanning Industry Association (CIVD), are 15 per cent up on the previous year and have largely been boosted by motorhomes in particular, which saw 48,500 registrations (22 per cent up). Caravan registrations were actually down around five per cent due to supply problems, but this didn’t affect the overall boost the industry is experiencing in one of its most important markets.

Daniel Onggowinarso, managing director of CIVD, said: “Caravanning is one of the safest forms of holiday in these times, as you travel individually with a leisure vehicle and only with people from your own household and are largely self-sufficient thanks to your own sleeping, living, cooking and sanitary facilities.

Rising to the challenges

This data is all the more staggering when you consider that the business conditions in Germany in the first half of the year were far from ideal. An increase in VAT in Germany threatened to have a serious knock-on effect on the leisure vehicle market, combined with the harsh lockdown experienced by the country for much of the winter, meaning people couldn’t view new vehicles in person in showrooms or dealerships. There was also an almost complete lack of tourists entering Germany for caravanning holidays for a long period. Despite all this, the new registrations continued to fly high – with new motorhome registrations averaging about 8,000 per month.

More records to tumble?

Another issue that the pandemic has caused is that of supply, but CIVD and the German industry at large remain optimistic that these issues will soon be solved – and when they are, a whole host more motorhomes and caravans will be registered. Daniel added: “The pandemic is still having a strong impact on the availability of components and raw materials worldwide. Manufacturers have many vehicles that are practically finished but cannot be delivered because a certain part is missing. However, we are optimistic for the second half of the year. If the situation in production develops positively, the mark of 120,000 newly registered vehicles could be reached for the first time by the end of the year.”