So it seems that whilst they can still repair and service, they are no longer selling new vans.
It's long been the case with all caravan brands that dealers estimate their needs in model terms in the late summer. The caravan makers then build that into a production schedule, giving the dealer's rough dates of when they expect to produce each van, so that at the Autumn shows the dealers can give buyers an idea of when to expect their van. Any order outside that initial plan goes to the end of production and can therefore be a year before delivery. Added to that manufacturer's expect a minimum volume of vans to be ordered by a dealership and if they can't or won't commit then they can no longer be a dealership. Over the years I have heard of Hymer playing hard ball in this regard, forcing dealerships to take models they didn't want and couldn't sell. It sounds like Cameron got fed up with it and like a number of Swift and Bailey dealers has reverted to used sales only where there's a good margin and less hassle.

There have been similar trends in the motor trade - my local Volvo dealer (a full Volvo garage for 70 years+) became an Authorised Workshop, meaning full Volvo support/servicing/etc., but no new car sales. This, according to people I know onsite, was because they don't have the spanking new, modern buildings that fit Volvo UK's image of what their brand is about (allowing higher prices, no doubt...?). They have now been taken over by a regional Volvo dealer, meaning they are selling Approved Used cars again, but there can be no new sales without a brand new sales centre...

Renault always had a local garage business model, meaning small, authorised dealers nationwide. That has gone and many rural dealers have packed up. A friend in one former dealer said they just couldn't afford the franchise cost any more, with deals being pushed harder and harder and margins on new sales much reduced.

Sounds like the caravan business is much the same - more dealers, chasing fewer sales, equals trouble. You'd think servicing would be a better business than it is - it seems healthy in Holland and Germany, but that may be because they have an MOT (equivalent) every year for caravans, so repeat business is always there...

Thank you Roger for clearing that up.
I noticed on their web page it now says authorised pre owned Eriba dealer

Quote: Simboc2004 wrote in post #17

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There have been similar trends in the motor trade - my local Volvo dealer (a full Volvo garage for 70 years+) became an Authorised Workshop, meaning full Volvo support/servicing/etc., but no new car sales. This, according to people I know onsite, was because they don't have the spanking new, modern buildings that fit Volvo UK's image of what their brand is about (allowing higher prices, no doubt...?).

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Very likely - we have recently lost our local Ford and Vauxhall dealers, both parts of separate dealer chains spanning East Anglia. Both those businesses had been in the town for many years. The only new car seller left is multiple agency - Fiat and MG. To buy anything else you now need to go to Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds or Norwich. Apart from a local village-based Subaru dealer (perhaps because farmers love them?) and a similar Aston Martin & Lotus dealer (low sales numbers, so needing a cheap location?).

Perhaps the online sales trend started by Tesla will become the norm. Personally, I prefer to see something in the flesh before I buy it! And test drive as well!! I can't see anyone buying a caravan without getting in it first, trying out the seats/beds/etc...

Here’s our input on this having been a customer of Leisure First these last 12 months.

We placed an order for a new 540 Troll at the NEC caravan show last November. We were expecting delivery in April/May 2024 so we sold our old 320 in February. Over the following weeks we were updated frequently by Cameron at LF as to progress. It became evident that Hymer were building caravans by model / serial number order and not against the actual order book. Clearly this was putting LF in a difficult position with Hymer not meeting deadlines on their committed orders. As time progressed, we became increasingly frustrated as the Summer was passing us by.

Finally, we received our caravan in early October, a full 11 months after placing the order. Now that we have it, we are very pleased with the build quality, and thankful for the excellent support from Cameron in particular over what has been a very trying time. In our view, Hymer has placed a lot of strain on the dealership and its customers which appears to be down to poor scheduling and management in the build process of some new caravans.

We completely understand the Leisure First stance as customer service is its priority and Hymer have put them in a terrible position with far too much hassle.

Pete and Ally

From a production point of view making a bulk number of identical vans is much more cost effective than making different models based on the date an order arrives. UK makers negotiate a years supply with their dealers at the start of a model year and try to keep to the promised dates. However if the dealer hasn't reserved a particular model the order goes to the back of the queue.

Our order arrived with Hymer before 2023 was done. We were told delivery was April or very latest May. In fact build wasn’t started until after the Summer shutdown in August. Had we known this at the start, we wouldn’t have sold our 320 so early.

Don't forget that caravan makers work in model years, not calendar years. So an order placed in October for delivery in May is very likely to be termed a factory, rather than a stock order and therefore at the back of the years production, after all stock orders have been completed. People who order a van to the spec. already reserved by a dealer as a stock order will receive their vans earlier.

Whilst many parts are common across the range it tends to be the small furniture parts that vary between layouts that legislate towards producing bulk sets of one particular van. It's much more cost effective to set up the small panel production machines to make a lot of one panel and send it to the production line, than to put them to store to be called off one at a time over months. Hymer have also doubled up the issue by offering two different interior furniture finishes.

I also suspect that Hymer saw demand fall off a cliff for MY '23 and cut production, slowing down all anticipated deliveries and that meant that not all 'tail end' orders could be completed in MY '23 and some had to be run over into MY '24. So in trade terms AP's van is a year younger than if the May date had been fulfilled.

Colin,
Caravans May have the same kind of budget, but nothing like the volume to fund the process in the same way.

The other thing that makes batch building the preferred route is the Touring range tubular steel frame. Whilst for the last decade or so there were just three lengths, now four with the 6XX models, each layout requires a slightly different frame structure. That's to allow for differing side window positions and fur iture and appliance attachment points. So again it's easier and cheaper to make a whole batch of the same frames and fit them out immediately, rather than hold them in stock to be called off as the line requires them.
Having seen the Bailey warehouse operation in Bristol it's amazing how they take in thousands of parts for caravans, motorhomes and campervans and break that bulk down into parts for an individual vans that they arrive on the lines almost to the minute that they're needed in the three different buildings where thr different lines are running. Hymer must have something similar.
I have visited one factory where batch building doesn't happen. You can book to go on a tour of the Crewe Bentley factory of a Friday morning. There you'll see a long snake of different models and different colours and each one will be totally different, even down to different power plants. The skills on display in upholstery and trim making are awe inspiring but all the individual pieces for each car arrive at the line like clockwork, even if the door cards and seats are encrusted with diamonds.