Issue 22
MARCH 2019
Editor’s note
T
his issue, that you are about to read, is particularly interesting, rich in information about the RV sector and with two reports from the Stuttgart and Melbourne trade fairs. Germany and Australia are, therefore, under our spotlight in this issue with contributions by some important figures in our industry, such as Wolfgang Speck, Chief Executive Officer at Knaus Tabbert GmbH, the prestigious designer Manfred Lang, founder of pro industria, and from ‘down-under’, Stuart Lamont, Chief Executive Officer of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia and Peter Mannfolk, Managing Director of AL-KO Australia. Now the spotlight turns towards the USA and RVX, the RVIA’s national RV trade show, on March 12-14, 2019 in Salt Lake City. This event certainly already deserves our applause for the excellent marketing campaign that has made it “the place to be” in 2019 for the whole RV sector from every part of the globe. But the news coming from the USA is not all good. The story of Erwin Hymer Group North America is shaking the industry and has had a painful ending: 900 people are now out of work. On 1st February,
Thor Industries completed the acquisition of Erwin Hymer Group, but left the Canadian company out of the deal and decreased the purchase price. The Erwin Hymer Group purchased Roadtrek in 2016. The Kitchener-based company had 300 employees at the time and held a significant share in the campervan segment. The German parent company saw attractive business opportunities and invested in acquiring a 255,000-square-foot facility in Cambridge. A beautiful story of entrepreneurship, which unfortunately ended in January with a financial scandal of a surprising number of invoices have been fabricated and some company managers being investigated for embezzlement. Our thoughts go to all those former employees who believed in the company and were committed to its core value “Our Passion is Your Passion”, yet from one day to the next were suddenly out of work without any explanation. Antonio Mazzucchelli
Contents Interviews
• 12 Stuart Lamont
CEO of Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA)
• 16 Peter Mannfolk
AL-KO’s Australia & New Zealand Managing Director
• 40 Wolfgang Speck CEO of the Knaus Tabbert Group
• 44 Manfred Lang
Designer, responsible for some of the most innovative RV projects
Columns
Focus on
Shows
• 28 Lippert Components
• 66 Climate control
• 20 Supershow Melbourne
• 32 Hella
• 68 Textiles
A new european HQ
Boost the RV comfort
Each RV needs its own heating project
The largest caravan show “down under”
The strategic role of fabrics
• 34 Dekalin
Global partner in sealants, adhesives and coatings
• 36 Groupe PSA 7,000 engines a day
• 56 Filippi 1971
The business also expands overseas
• 72 How Europe camps
EHG study on “Caravanning Cultures”
• 50 CMT Stuttgart 260,000 visitors
• 58 G+S Die Polstermacher Upholstery ‘Made in Germany’
• 60 Nordelettronica Satellite unit
• 62 CAN
CAN and Suburban are partnering together
• 64 Tecnowall
The innovative coupling: resistant and waterproof
Bt o B
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