Swift ?

[Figaro]

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/jobs/swift-caravans-consultation-staff-production-3503518

 

[Jaws]

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/jobs/swift-caravans-consultation-staff-production-3503518

Having read the article, I believe it is just an excuse to cut back on one line so they can concentrate more effort on the slightly more lucrative business of motorhomes

 

[Monty don]

Its more proof that all industries are really struggling with this situation we are in with brexit and election etc
Sign of the times and whats to come

 

[ambulancekidd]

Could it be that people are becoming tired of poor service & quality when purchasing caravans or motorhomes?
I still find it staggering that we put up with the flimsy answers dealers come up with when something goes wrong with your very expensive purchase!

I also think that we do ourselves no favours when reading reviews on motorhomes.
I've yet to read or watch a report which criticises the vehicle in any way shape or form. Constructive criticism is a perfectly natural process & imho is vital.
Can you imagine the car industry putting up with these issues? I think not.
Often in this very forum people will claim that the reviews cannot possibly criticise the vehicle or they'd never be allowed another one to test! Utter bollocks, we just roll over & play dead, why?

This industry was growing steadily at one point & I'm pretty sure there are many factors involved in the shrinkage of this sector, bloody expensive camp sites etc, however how many new converts to motorhomes spent the thick end of £100k to find a flimsy faulty product with beds to fit a midget which they've sold on never to return.
This was a golden opportunity to lure new customers in & the industry missed it by a blasé attitude to customers needs.
Other countries seem to be suffering from the same lacklustre performances not least of which is Hymer who in recent years have fallen by the wayside for the reasons mentioned above.

 

[ctc]

If we keep buying poorly built motorhomes and staying on overpriced campsites we will just get more of the same.

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[Minxy]

Having read the article, I believe it is just an excuse to cut back on one line so they can concentrate more effort on the slightly more lucrative business of motorhomes

They say:

But it has now confirmed it has entered into a consultation with some of its staff, as it plans to cut production of its touring caravans and motorhomes.

​

So saying it is so they can concentrate more on motorhomes doesn't pan out.

 

[Jaws]

They say:

​

​

So saying it is so they can concentrate more on motorhomes doesn't pan out.

True enough.. I missed that bit ( selective reading probably )

 

[SpeedyDux]

Could it be that people are becoming tired of poor service & quality when purchasing caravans or motorhomes?
I still find it staggering that we put up with the flimsy answers dealers come up with when something goes wrong with your very expensive purchase!

I also think that we do ourselves no favours when reading reviews on motorhomes.
I've yet to read or watch a report which criticises the vehicle in any way shape or form. Constructive criticism is a perfectly natural process & imho is vital.
Can you imagine the car industry putting up with these issues? I think not.
Often in this very forum people will claim that the reviews cannot possibly criticise the vehicle or they'd never be allowed another one to test! Utter bollocks, we just roll over & play dead, why?

This industry was growing steadily at one point & I'm pretty sure there are many factors involved in the shrinkage of this sector, bloody expensive camp sites etc, however how many new converts to motorhomes spent the thick end of £100k to find a flimsy faulty product with beds to fit a midget which they've sold on never to return.
This was a golden opportunity to lure new customers in & the industry missed it by a blasé attitude to customers needs.
Other countries seem to be suffering from the same lacklustre performances not least of which is Hymer who in recent years have fallen by the wayside for the reasons mentioned above.

Some years ago, Which Motorcaravan magazine (as it was called then) had a column by the late John Wickersham who was the author of the relevant Haynes Manual, in which he did in-depth reviews of the construction of popular UK MHs. This included things such as plumbing and electrical installations in coachbuilts. IMO it was critical but fair. There were photos of examples of faults or bad practice.

Wickersham's reviews should have been taken by UK manufacturers as constructive criticism. End users should have had better designs, and improved workmanship and materials. After all, it is in their best interests to reduce warranty claims from their MH customers, and keep them as repeat customers.

You never see such informative in-depth reviews nowadays. I'm guessing that trade advertisers' Sales Directors were displeased. Instead we get reviews that basically provide additional sales promotion literature. They tell the reader very little about the underlying quality (or lack of). Or, they say the test vehicle is a "pre-production" example and the things that didn't work will be fixed for the production ones. Which begs the question why UK manufacturers don't do a comprehensive PDI on the test vehicles before launch, especially before they go on loan to the trade press. Sloppy attitude? Lack of attention to detail? Don't care?

 

[596]

Well while at the NEC this year on the way to collect our new motorhome I asked a Swift rep what the most expensive caravan they had was, I was shown one that was £32,000, looking inside it the interior was almost identical to a motorhome, how on earth can they justify the £70k plus of a motorhome, maybe cheaper to stick a caravan on a load loader and use it that way

I must say I was tempted looking at caravans but there is something about them I don't really like, maybe all the aggro of hitching and unhitching and when on the move restricted by the huge overall length if you wanted to explore, you would have to unhitch it and hope it was there when you got back! They do seem very good value for money compared to motorhomes, some of the new basic motorhomes I saw are really basic and more like boxes on wheels, you don't tend to see that in a caravan.

 

[ambulancekidd]

Our last brand new caravan was a Sterling Elite Explorer, same layout as the Swift Conqueror but with nicer interior colours, we thought the Conqueror was dull & drab inside.
First impressions were favourable but once we started using it, the shortcomings became glaringly obvious & too numerous to list.
We were bitterly disappointed as we'd previously had a Bessacarr Cameo with was simply superb.
First the Bessacarr..

Oh I've got a thing about keeping the white trip white, very white & hate to see them yellowing when its so easy to restore them. This one looked awful on the outside when we bought it.

Now the Sterling, it looked the mutts & I installed a full four wheel drive Powrtouch Evolution motor mover due to our horrible driveway.

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