In 2023, a total of 90,365 caravans and motor caravans were newly registered in Germany. After the record results of the first years of the pandemic, the market has normalised as anticipated by the industry.

The effects of the pandemic and the uncertain economic situation are posing challenges for the caravanning industry: interest in leisure vehicles remains high, but the industry has been producing under challenging conditions for more than two years. Following the remarkable record results of the first years of the pandemic, the current new registration figures remain at a remarkably good level despite the difficult conditions: a total of 90,365 leisure vehicles were newly registered in Germany in 2023. This corresponds to a slight decrease of 0.7 per cent compared to the previous year. The fact that the current number of new registrations is below the record figures of the first pandemic years is not an indicator for a declining interest in mobile holidays, as CIVD President Bernd Löher explains: “The caravanning industry has been in an exceptional situation for more than two years. Holidaymakers continue to show great interest in motor caravans and caravans, as demonstrated by the good visitor results at the most recent caravanning trade shows, among other things. However, the caravanning industry is currently producing under challenging conditions, as the effects of the pandemic and current crises are also being clearly felt in the production facilities of manufacturers and suppliers. In view of the current conditions, over 90,000 new registrations are a very solid annual result and a sign that the industry is on the right track despite all the adversity.”

Reduced delivery times and improved vehicle availability 

With 68,469 new registrations in the last twelve months, the motor caravan segment continues to top the pre-pandemic level and exceeds the previous year’s result by 3 per cent. In 2022, supply bottlenecks for vehicle chassis still had a significant impact on the production of motor caravans, which led to delays in the production and delivery of vehicles. However, the availability of base vehicles improved over the course of the year. Compared to the previous year, the number of motor caravans delivered to dealers rose increased again.

The caravan segment, on the other hand, reported a decline for the year: with 21,896 new registrations (- 10.5 per cent), the caravan segment was down on the previous year. The figures reflect the current economic uncertainty affecting families and younger buyer groups, among others: the rising cost of living, high interest rates and a lack of financial security are causing potential buyers to postpone the planned purchase of a new vehicle to a later date. Instead, they are increasingly turning to the wide range of rental vehicles on offer, which is creating high demand for providers of rental vehicles. Interest in used caravans and motor caravans also remains high: a total of 177,459 changes of ownership (+3.1 per cent) were registered last year, which is reflected in an increase for both vehicle segments: 98,172 used motor caravans (+5.3 per cent) and 79,287 caravans (+0.4 per cent) changed hands in 2023. Compared to the previous year, the overall supply situation for customers has improved significantly: at the start of the year, a visit to the dealership is particularly worthwhile for interested parties, as dealership stockrooms are once again well stocked and waiting times for individually configured vehicles have also decreased compared to previous years.

Looking ahead to 2024, the caravanning industry continues to face major challenges: “The situation for the caravanning industry and dealers remains challenging. Manufacturers are still a long way from returning to normal production conditions and dealers are also currently feeling the economic uncertainty on the customer side. Aggravating factors such as the acute shortage of skilled labour and high energy prices are placing an additional burden on the industry,” summarises CIVD President Bernd Löher. However, despite the difficult circumstances, there is also reason for optimism, according to the CIVD President: “The falling inflation rate at the end of the year gives us confidence that consumers’ purchasing power will continue to stabilise in the coming months. We are also hoping for a better interest rate situation this year, which should give customers more stability in their planning. In the current situation, it is particularly important that policymakers give companies and consumers positive signals and create stable economic conditions. Apart from that, caravanning has already proven to be a crisis-proof form of holiday and Germans’ interest in leisure vehicles remains high. Despite all the challenges, customers can look forward to a wide range of products and numerous innovations in the caravanning year 2024.”

Despite producing under difficult conditions for more than two years, the industry managed to continue working off its high order backlog in 2023. Companies’ order books are still well filled. The caravanning year 2023 brought initial improvements for motor caravan manufacturers in terms of delivery times, among other things. A total of around 133,568 leisure vehicles rolled off the production lines in the past twelve months. This is an increase of 3.3 per cent compared to the previous year. At 51,984 units (export ratio: 39 per cent), 4.8 per cent fewer vehicles went abroad than in 2022.

Thanks to the improved availability of vehicle chassis, motor caravan production increased by 18.3 per cent compared to the previous year to 88,699 units produced. Over the course of the year, 30,917 motor caravans (+9.3 per cent) were exported. Due to the shortage of chassis, manufacturers producing both vehicle types had increasingly

focussed on the production of caravans in 2022 and achieved a significant increase in production for the sector in the previous year. As expected, production of caravans was reduced again due to the improved chassis availability for motor caravans: 44,869 caravans (-17.4 per cent) were produced in German facilities in 2023 and 21,067 units (-20 per cent) were exported abroad.

A closer look at the general conditions reveals that the German caravanning industry continues to face major challenges: in addition to the cross-industry shortage of skilled labour and rising energy and material costs, there are still bottlenecks in logistics in some cases. Due to numerous volatile factors, it is currently still uncertain when the industry will be able to produce under relatively standard conditions again.

Revenue up in all areas

The German caravanning industry is reporting a yearly revenue of 15.3 billion euros for 2023. This is an increase of 8.8 per cent compared to the previous year’s record and the tenth consecutive increase in revenue. As in other sectors of the global industry, factors such as increased production costs and the limited availability of new vehicles led to increasing vehicle prices.

The new vehicle segment again accounted for the largest share of annual revenue in 2023: a revenue of €8.5 billion (+12.1 per cent) represents a new all-time high.

The used market also recorded an increase in revenue and, at 5.5 billion euros, is around 4.6 per cent above the previous year’s result.

The industry’s third business segment also reported a new all-time high in terms of revenue: companies generated around 1.3 billion euros (+6 per cent) with accessories in 2023.

“Behind the German economy are twelve challenging months. It is all the more gratifying that the domestic caravan industry, as a market leader, has achieved a relatively good annual result despite adverse conditions. This is a positive signal for the entire industry and demonstrates that enthusiasm for caravanning has not waned. Therefore, the caravan industry starts into the year 2024 with optimism despite all crises. Because one thing is clear: caravans and motor caravans made in Germany are and will remain in high demand,” states Daniel Onggowinarso, Managing Director of CIVD.

Caravanning tourism generates over 18 billion euros in revenue per year

Germany as a tourist destination is benefiting from the increasing number of people who spend their leisure time in a motor caravan or caravan. According to a study by the German Economic Institute for Tourism (dwif) for the caravanning year 2022, this development generated a combined revenue of over 18.1 billion euros per year for the domestic economy, which corresponds to an increase of around 20 per cent compared to 2021.

The money spent by caravanning holidaymakers not only benefits the operators of campsites and pitches, but also the shops, companies and service providers based in the regions. If the holidaymakers’ expenditure during the trip and the travel costs incurred are taken into account, €1 of added value from accommodation at the campsite generates almost €12 of added value for all direct and indirect stakeholders in the surrounding area. This is a remarkably high level of indirect profitability and an above-average value compared to other sectors.

Caravanning offers regions and communities that are still underdeveloped in terms of tourism in particular the best opportunities to build up tourism infrastructure quickly and at low cost and thus benefit from the added tourism revenue. Moreover, the experiences of recent years have shown that caravanning is a crisis-proof form of holiday. The construction and expansion of motor caravan pitches in particular means that less developed tourist regions in Germany also have the best opportunities to participate in this long-term holiday trend.

Motor caravan pitches offer significant value 

In recent decades, travel behaviour in caravan tourism has changed drastically. Today, the camping scene is more diverse, individualised and heterogeneous. Accordingly, the range of accommodation options today is far more diverse than it was 40 years ago. In addition to traditional campsites, alternative accommodation concepts such as motor caravan pitches have developed and established themselves during this time. A study by Hochschule Geisenheim University shows that both providers and holidaymakers are benefiting from this trend: The university conducted two studies in collaboration with the CIVD to analyse the situation of caravanning tourism in wine-growing regions. The first study, which focussed on providers, involved 600 wineries. Of these, around 23 per cent already offer motor caravan pitches. In addition to increasing revenue, the biggest advantages of pitches were cited as being the acquisition of new customers and raising customer awareness. More than 40 per cent of the wineries that do not currently offer pitches are firmly planning or can imagine offering such overnight accommodation in the future. Project manager Prof. Dr Gergely Szolnoki emphasised that both producers and tourists see great opportunities in the combination of caravanning and wine tourism.