Aussie Caravans/Campervans

A country Victorian engineering company has just purchased Trakmaster caravans so assume they are Australian made.

Kimberley Kampers,who make the Kamper, Karavan and Kruiser, are Australian owned and made in Ballina NSW.
Avida make caravans in Penrith.
Sunland are made near Caboolture also Bushtracker somewhere near there.
There are a lot.
Duncan

Ultimate Campers at Moruya NSW south coast.

Vista RV & Track Trailer both in Bayswater, VIC.
Australian Off Road Campers on Caloundra, Qld.

Penguin Composites in Penguin Tasmania manufacture a variety of different style vans and campers all in fibreglass.

I spent the better part of 5 years and countless dollars on exhibitions / shows etc chasing the elusive quality product at affordable price. I needed to upgrade my canvas (Ozzie built) camper to something more substantial. 2 years ago I settled on the Lifestyle Reconn which I gather you have discounted. Most of the ones that others have mentioned in their responses to you are in the same bracket or dearer but they are also very good products. The imports are putting a lot of price pressure on the Oz manufacturers - particularly when it comes to the secondhand market.

Not everything from China is poor quality but a lot of research is required particularly in the after sales area. I go quite remote and was therefore prepared to pay the extra for the peace of mind. I have been very happy with the trailer and the after sales service but I do acknowledge I paid a premium for it.

Good luck with your research.

Ken

You may find this of interest, it relates to Camper Trailers manufactured in Australia. Perhaps there is also a Caravan equivalent organisation.

I’m in no way endorsing, promoting, or associated with the Australian Made Camper Trailer Guild, but it is worth highlighting this from its website as it goes some way to answering your question, especially with regard to Australian Manufacture.

Australian Manufactured Camper Trailers Guild website...

“What is AMCTG?

These letters stand for quality and reassurance to Australian camping consumers that our members are genuine Australian Manufacturers. The Australian Manufactured Camper Trailer Guild (AMCTG) has been established in 2011 and includes only Australian industry leaders of Camper Trailer Manufacturing.

All members are subjected to engineering compliance for Australian Standards and also confirm that their complete manufacturing process is conducted in Australia with the very best of materials – including CHASSIS, BODY, SUSPENSION, TENT and CANVAS. Guaranteed!”

Mind you, as a “rule of thumb” – Australian Made usually means more expensive, especially given manufacturing costs in Australia are generally higher than China, for example.

Hope this helps…

Cheers, Baz – The Landy

Australian Offroad Campers in Coloundra Qld (AOR).

Our New Age caravan was Aussie Built. Here's where a lot of the bits came from:
Chassis was from Preston chassis in Melbourne.
Cabinets and general build was in their factory in Melbourne.
Suspension and Hitch came from Vehicle Components in Brisbane.
Brakes/hubs/stabilisers/ jockey wheel and ESC are all from Alko in Melbourne
Electrics are Narva and Clipsal.
Electric fitout was by Caravan Electrical Solutions in Melbourne.
Plumbing was from Northern RV in Melbourne
Pull out Marine BBQ came from Caravan and Marine BBQs at Taylors Beach NSW
All the windows and appliances are brand name and not cheap Chinese knockoffs.

That's a lot of great Aussie companies, Aussie labour and suppliers and the quality is there.

And all the dodgy additions came from Phil's shed in Adelaide!!

Also Mountain Trail Campers in Albury. Expensive but in my opinion worth the cost.
Cheers, Gary M.

Not endorsing the product but

North Coast Campers at Caloundra

There are many Australian manufacturers, probably well over 100; most are still manufactured in Australia.

The average buyer is wanted 'good value' and see something glitzy and thinks it looks good. This encourages the market to create a cheaper caravan. If the price for a nice looking caravan is around $40,000 new, it will be Chinese manufactured or part thereof. Unfortunately this price pressure often means that good brands with good quality can't compete, and these are the ones lost to the market :(.

If you want to buy Australian Made, do a factory tour. If they don't allow tours, walk away. This advice was important long before Chinese caravans too.Check how it is made, not just how good the finished product looks.

Johnno's

Both tent and trailer made in Oz

Well it perhaps goes against the ' grain ' of replies but just because its 'Australian' made does not in any way shape or form guarantee 'quality' ... in general all it really does is up the price ,we as a nation that had a good manufacturing system from shoes to cars to everything under the sun have 'priced' ourselves into oblivion ....its a bit like fanatical Harley Davidson owners / riders proclaiming all the way USA when better than 40% of a Harley is made from parts manufactured o/seas.

There's an excellent Facebook forum called "Lemon Caravans and RVs in Australia". It's a voice for the many caravan buyers who've been dudded by the manufacturers (Australian and overseas). It doesn't allow any product endorsement posts.Well worth a look to see if something you're contemplating is mentioned.
We've had two small "off-road" vans. Neither was much good. We then did a lot of research looking for a small, well built off-road van, but not a camper trailer. The AOR Odyssey and possibly the Innovan fitted the bill, but they're up there in the $70,000s.
We ended up spending $20,000 on a 15 year old 11 foot Supreme Getaway pop-top. These old Supremes were built on a steel trailer base with strong trailing arm independent suspension. We'll probably spend another $10,000 on BMS, heater, solar, HWS, etc, but we'll still be $40,000 ahead. It may all end in tears, of course, but so did our previous two brand-new purchasing experiences.