Caravan manufacturer collapses into liquidation, debts of $1.1m

The designing and manufacturing business abruptly went bust, leaving creditors out of pocket.

A caravan manufacturing company has collapsed with debts of more than $1 million.

On Tuesday, Victorian-based Highline Caravans Pty Ltd went into voluntary liquidation.

The Melbourne company designed and built custom caravans for customers.

Highline Caravans has been a registered business for 11 years, since 2013, and offered 13 different models to customers including an electric vehicle.

Altan Djenab, from insolvency firm Wild Apricot, is the appointed liquidator. He has been contacted for comment.

Documents he submitted to the corporate regulator, ASIC, shows that the business has left behind some hefty debts in the wake of its demise.

Caravan builder Highline Caravans has collapsed.

This is what the company’s website looks like now.

A total of $1.14 million is owed to creditors. There’s around 60 organisations owed money.

That includes $235,000 to the Australian Taxation office and a further $766,000 to another 58 unsecured creditors.

The Victorian State Revenue Office is also understood to be a creditor.

Staff are not owed any money, according to the report.

An initial estimate puts the company’s assets at just $10,000.

Mr Djenab told The Herald Sun that the company appears to have failed due to a lack of orders.

The Covid-19 pandemic turbocharged the caravan industry and it’s still a popular mode of holidaying.

New figures from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia released this year revealed that despite other sectors of the travel market taking a hit, there’s been no slowdown in camping and caravanning.

“There was a total of 15.2 million overnight caravan and camping trips at Y/E December 2023 — a small increase on the previous year but still a sizeable 9 per cent up on 2019,” the association said.

There are nearly 800,000 towed caravans in Australia.

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The business owes $1.14 million to creditors, according to a public report. Picture: @highlinecaravans/Instagram

The 11-year-old business offered customers custom designs. Picture: @highlinecaravans/Instagram

Highline Caravans joins a growing list of manufacturers which have bitten the dust in recent months.

Last month, a national roof manufacturer, Lutum, went bust owing $20 million.

A few weeks earlier, Melbourne-based company MadeCo, which was responsible for kitchen manufacturing, went into voluntary administration with 30 employees impacted and $2.5 million in debt.

A joinery manufacturer, Apollo group, also went bust with debts of around $11 million.

It comes as another group of manufacturing companies went bust at the end of last year owing nearly $80 million.

News.com.au reported that 12 companies linked to GDK Group, which made bathroom and kitchen cabinets, went into liquidation in the last half of 2023.

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Originally published as Caravan manufacturer collapses into liquidation, debts of $1.1m