Wandahome aren't first on my list of enjoyable comedy acts - but their latest email certainly made me smile.
"Buy before 25th February to avoid the price increases", was the gist of their message - which seemed to imply that 'the price increases' are an inevitable part of caravanning life, like rainy days, or bank holiday traffic.
Why???
Don't the manufacturers know that the financial storm is set to get *much* worse - are Messrs Swift, Bailey & Explorer Group living in a delightful parallel universe, where abundant money flows continuously, and not an economic cloud is to be seen in the endlessly sunny skies?
A universe in which they can jovially announce 'the price increases' to customers who will simply shrug ruefully, and dig a bit deeper into their pockets?
Personally, I think that unless they start implementing some pretty drastic price *decreases*, PDQ, they won't see out the year.
Just my opinion - but we could well see some major economic events in the next few months.
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
If a company does go bust it would not have stayed in business simply by cutting prices to shift product. If any major company starts slashing prices it could be a sign that the company is in trouble. With everything from rising fuel costs to falling £ increasing prices of imported raw materials these companies have no choice but to raise prices in order to turn a profit. If they don't make a profit they will go out of business, I'm failing to see how selling product at cost or at a loss will help them.
Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 15/2/2013
If a company does go bust it would not have stayed in business simply by cutting prices to shift product. If any major company starts slashing prices it could be a sign that the company is in trouble. With everything from rising fuel costs to falling £ increasing prices of imported raw materials these companies have no choice but to raise prices in order to turn a profit. If they don't make a profit they will go out of business, I'm failing to see how selling product at cost or at a loss will help them.
They could make a start by cutting their profit margin (manufacturer & dealer), Directors pay & bonuses, and dividends (where applicable)
Not much to cut when it comes to assembly workers pay - but those other savings could be made,
While decreased profits do not guarantee survival, neither do increased prices. I see fewer and fewer new caravans on the roads every year - and with so many of them now priced over £25,000, it's hardly surprising.
Anyway, it might all be academic - apparently, increasingly huge amounts are being 'shorted' again the US Dollar (betting on the Dollar to substantially fall in value) by the end of April.
One has to assume that those betting those billions have a shrewd idea of what's in the wind - and if that wind *does* blow in their favour, the global impact will be seriously huge.
Who knows? - perhaps, in a few months, frantic dealers would be only to pleased to sell those new caravans for a fraction of their current sticker price to anyone with cash - if only there were some people with savings that hadn't vanished overnight in a massive bank & pension fund crash.
Gloom and doom? , I certainly hope so!! - but, whatever, this doesn't seem like a good time for caravan manufacturers to be merrily implementing their annual 'price rise', as if everything was perfectly normal.
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
Bit like in 2009 with acres of unsold cars, it was supposed to be just a matter of time before they would be virtually giving those cars away & of course it never happened, prices fell but not by that much. Large companies do know a thing about sales & marketing & we have had worse recessions than this one, perhaps you are not old enough to remember the 70s?
Caravans/motorhomes are luxury items selling to a niche market so in the greater scheme of things any manufacturers going down't pan are only going to directly affect employees etc of the failed company. Product will still always be available at a price the market will stand.
Actually, the car glut did produce some bargains - not 'give-away' prices, admittedly, but still decent buys.
In late 2008 we bought an 09 model 7 seat Captiva 4x4 2.0Tdi (with some pretty nifty features like self levelling suspension) for just over 15K
That was from Perrys, who really were getting worried about lack of sales. (the scrappage scheme had yet to be implemented to save the dealers collective bacon)
It was just about the best tow car we've ever owned - used to whip a 1600kg van along with ease.
Depreciation was, sadly, worse than the proverbial stone tied to a concrete block ;) - but since we'd paid relatively little for it, it didn't hurt anywhere near as badly as it would otherwise have done.
I disagree that we've had worse recessions - and, unfortunately, I remember the 1970's only too well ;) It should also be borne in mind that in 2008 the government had a wide array of tools to try and implement damage control.
Those tools have largely failed - just *how* much more money printing (aka 'quantitative easing') can be done before sterling is worthless?
The same applies to all major currencies - governments vainly engaging in ever wilder schemes to stave off a mega-collapse.
If the dollar tumbles, we *really* will be well and truly up that well known creek - and without a canoe, never mind a paddle!
China is making strenuous efforts to supplant the dollar as the world's reserve currency - they have engineered trade agreements with a growing list of countries that bypass the dollar completely, using sophisticated barter techniques that are ultimately backed by the Yuan, or rather the vast gold reserves behind the Yuan.
I absolutely make no claim to any expertise - nor even to understand anything other than a fraction of what is going on, but I seriously believe that we are headed for an almighty financial collapse of a magnitude that has never been seen in the history of this country.
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
Quote: Originally posted by Fee Fi Fo on 15/2/2013
Probably will be glad of our van then when the house has gone
Not such a joke, actually.
Whether there would (or could) be repossessions on such a massive scale is a moot point, though. With chaos reigning, lenders would have suspend all collections and repossessions until the government (whatever form that would take) gave instructions.
Such a collapse would mean no wages/benefits/pensions, Savings wiped out, ATM's/credit/debit cards non functioning - a genuine nightmare.
There would have to be emergency food distributions (or people would start distributing food themselves) and some form of martial law declared to try and curb the rioting and looting.
Frankly, whatever optimistic face the government might present at the moment, I'd be amazed if they didn't have contingency plans in place for just such an emergency.
In some ways, caravanner's (who are more used to living 'off the grid', as it were ) might find things like power and water shortages easier to cope with.
If living in a city, there might well be a lot to be said for scraping some petrol together and getting out of town in a caravan until the situation was brought under control.
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
So this thread is not really about the price of caravans at all? There have been reams of books written about the imminent collapse of society & still we survive & prosper.....& you know as well as I do that political threads are taboo on here...
Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 15/2/2013
So this thread is not really about the price of caravans at all? There have been reams of books written about the imminent collapse of society & still we survive & prosper.....& you know as well as I do that political threads are taboo on here...
It's about the price of caravans, and the labyrinthine factors that influence the price of caravans.
I wasn't aware that politics, per-se, had been mentioned - merely the socio-economic consequences of dangerously inflationary currency manipulation that adversely affect the price of caravans.
As you and I both know, there's very little happening on this planet that is as important as caravans (and the prices, thereof)
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
I don't think the prices will drop , when demand is so high. I was speaking to a salesmen at last years NEC . Who told me they were hoping to sell about 80 vans in the week,but ended up selling 160.
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Topic: `The Price Increases`...
