PERIPLE RV · INDUSTRY INSIGHTS · 2026
Pakenham, Victoria · 8 min read
The enthusiasm for caravanning in Australia has not gone anywhere. What has changed is the buyer. After attending several caravan shows and talking with hundreds of people — couples, families, experienced owners thinking about their next van — the pattern is consistent: people are taking longer, asking sharper questions, and expecting more from the businesses they buy from. That shift is worth understanding before you commit to anything.
What's Actually Happening at Australian Caravan Shows
Walk through any major caravan show in 2025 or 2026 and the floor feels busy. Couples step inside vans and imagine the coast. Families try out bunk configurations. Retirees talk about the trips they have been planning for years.
But the conversations that stand out are the ones where a buyer has clearly done their research. They are not asking what comes included — they already know. They are asking about tare weight, ATM, chassis construction, what the warranty actually covers, and how the manufacturer handles delivery commitments. Some have visited three or four shows. Others have spent months working through forums, review sites, and manufacturer spec sheets.
Fewer people are buying on the day. That is not disengagement. It is the rational behaviour of someone making a $70,000–$120,000 decision in a market that has had visible failures in the last few years.
What Changed in the Industry — and Why Buyers Are Right to Notice
The pandemic years created a demand spike that compressed production timelines and stretched inventory. Some manufacturers grew quickly to meet it. When demand normalised and costs rose, not all of them adapted at the same speed. Several well-known brands have closed, restructured, or scaled back in the past two years.
The causes vary — manufacturing costs, inventory positions, cash flow, changing demand patterns — but the effect on buyer confidence is consistent. Customers who placed orders with manufacturers that subsequently closed, or who experienced long delivery delays and poor post-sale support, now approach the buying process very differently.
The questions that used to come at the end of a sales conversation now come at the beginning: Who owns this business? Where is it built? What happens if there is a problem after delivery? Can I inspect the van before I pay the balance?
"Buyers are not comparing caravans anymore. They are comparing the entire ownership experience — from deposit to delivery to the first time something needs fixing on the road."
More Caravans, More Features — and a Harder Decision
The sheer volume of choice at a major caravan show is genuinely difficult to navigate. Compact touring vans, hybrid campers, family off-road layouts, large luxury caravans, expedition builds — all of them competing on spec sheets that are increasingly hard to compare like-for-like.
Every manufacturer has a headline claim: the largest battery in its class, a proprietary suspension system, a construction method no one else uses. Some of those claims are meaningful. Some are marketing. After walking through fifteen vans in a day, most buyers cannot reliably tell which is which.
The question that gets lost in the spec comparison is a simpler one: will this van suit the way I actually travel? A van with a 300Ah lithium system is genuinely valuable for someone spending weeks off-grid in the Kimberley. For someone who does weekends at powered caravan parks, it adds cost and weight for capability they will never use. Matching the van to the travel style matters more than finding the longest equipment list at the lowest price.
What Experienced Owners Want on Their Next Van
The most instructive conversations at caravan shows are with people on their second or third caravan. They have already done the first purchase, the first long trip, the first time something failed on a remote track. They know what they wish they had spec'd differently.
Their priorities are usually: usable payload (not tare weight, which tells you very little), practical layout versus impressive layout, access to components that need regular maintenance, and a tow that is stable and predictable when loaded.
Some experienced owners want to go bigger. But a significant number are looking to downsize — and not because they want less comfort. A couple who spent years towing a 22ft family van often finds that a 16ft off-road van with a thoughtful layout is more liveable for two people than a larger van with space they stopped using once the kids stopped coming. The upgrade is sometimes a smaller van that does what they actually need, rather than a larger one that does more of what they have already stopped doing.
Cost Pressure Is Real — But the Desire to Travel Hasn't Gone Away
Most Australian households are paying more attention to where money goes in 2026. Housing costs, insurance, fuel, groceries — they all affect the context in which a $90,000 caravan purchase gets considered. And the cost of ownership extends beyond the purchase price: registration, insurance, annual servicing, storage, and the trips themselves all add up.
The effect on buying decisions is real — longer deliberation periods, more careful budget allocation, more interest in second-hand vans at 25–40% below new pricing for equivalent three-to-four-year-old spec.
What has not changed is the underlying motivation. People still want to get away. The conversation about getting a caravan is often not really about the caravan — it is about having something to plan around, somewhere to point the calendar, a reason to leave the routine behind. When everyday life feels expensive and pressured, the pull toward that kind of escape often gets stronger, not weaker. What changes is the standard of value buyers expect when they do spend.
Payment Confidence Is Now Part of the Buying Decision
Progress payment structures — deposits at order, milestone payments during production, balance at delivery — have been standard practice in the caravan industry for years. In a market that has had visible business failures, they are now a significant factor in how buyers choose between manufacturers.
The concern is straightforward: a buyer who has paid 40–60% of a van's cost before delivery has real financial exposure if the manufacturer cannot complete the order. Buyers are now asking specifically about payment structures, what protections exist, and how milestone payments are structured before they engage seriously with a manufacturer.
At Periple RV, our payment structure is designed to reduce substantial upfront financial commitments before delivery. We think the buying process should build confidence progressively — and that confidence should begin before the first payment, not after the van arrives.
What Genuine Value for Money Actually Looks Like
Price comparison is easy. Value comparison is harder. Two caravans at the same price can deliver very different outcomes depending on how they are built, how well the layout suits the owner, and how the manufacturer performs after delivery.
A 200Ah lithium system has genuine value for someone doing extended off-grid touring. For someone who stays at powered parks, it adds $3,000–$5,000 to the purchase price and meaningful weight to the van for no practical benefit. The same logic applies to interior size, storage configuration, electrical complexity, and overall van length.
Value is not the longest feature list at the lowest price. It is the correct set of features, weight, and layout for how a specific person travels — built and supported by a manufacturer they can trust to be there after the sale.
Five Questions Worth Asking Before You Buy
Before committing to a van, these five questions tend to reveal more than a specification sheet.
1 Does this van suit how I actually travel?
Not how you imagine you might travel after buying it — how you actually travel now. The destinations, the frequency of moves, who comes with you, how much time you spend inside versus outside. A layout that photographs well at a show is not necessarily the most functional for your specific trip patterns.
2 What will this van weigh when it is loaded for a trip?
Tare weight is an almost useless number on its own. The figure that matters is available payload: ATM minus tare, minus water, minus the gear you actually carry. Check the towball mass against your vehicle's limit. Understand your vehicle's GCM. A van that is legal empty and overloaded for every trip is a risk and a warranty issue waiting to happen.
3 Which features will I genuinely use?
Walk through the van and ask, for each feature: will I use this in the first twelve months? A large lithium system, air conditioning, an outdoor kitchen, a washing machine — each has a cost in purchase price, weight, and complexity. The right answer is not always more.
4 Do I fully understand the payment and ownership arrangements?
Ask for the payment schedule in writing before you sign anything. Understand what the warranty covers and what it does not, who performs warranty repairs, and how service is handled after delivery. Ask specifically about what happens if there is a production delay. A manufacturer who cannot answer these questions clearly is telling you something.
5 Have I inspected the van properly — not just looked at it?
Sit at the dinette. Open every storage compartment. Look at the join quality on cabinetry. Find where the battery and electrical system are housed and check whether they are accessible. Use the bathroom door. Lie on the bed. A van that feels right in those two minutes of actually using it will feel right for years. One that doesn't, won't.
Where the Market Goes from Here
The fundamentals of Australian caravanning are sound. Demand for travel, for freedom, for alternatives to resort holidays and expensive flights — none of that is going away. The population of people who want to explore regional and remote Australia by van is large and growing.
What the market is working through is a recalibration of expectations. Buyers now expect practical design rather than showroom presence, transparent purchasing processes rather than sales pressure, and manufacturers who are oriented toward the entire ownership experience rather than closing the sale. Those expectations raise the bar for everyone in the industry. That is a good outcome for buyers.
For Periple RV, the direction is straightforward: build caravans that suit how Australians actually travel, price them honestly, and support the people who buy them. The Solid 16 is the expression of that — not the largest van in its class, not the cheapest, but the one built around the travel patterns and practical needs of serious Australian tourers.
Come and see for yourself.
If you are working through the decision — first van, upgrade, or downsize — visit the Periple RV showroom in Pakenham. The Solid 16 is available for a full inspection. No time pressure, no sales script. Come with your questions.
Explore Periple RV → periplerv.com.au
Book a showroom visit → periplerv.com.au/book
The observations in this article reflect Periple RV's perspective following recent Australian caravan shows. Individual experiences vary. Buyers should always review current specifications, payment terms, and contracts before placing an order.
— The Periple RV Team
Periple RV · periplerv.com.au
39 Commercial Drive, Pakenham VIC 3810 · Australian Owned & Operated · © 2026
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