Kings and queens of Australia’s $23bn caravan and camper industry revealed
Multimillion-dollar empires and long-running family businesses make up Australia's $23bn caravan industry. Meet the people who make the industry in our state-by-state list.
Where once reserved for retirees spending the kids’ inheritance, the post-pandemic “vanlife” boom has supercharged Australia’s caravan and campervan industry.
Key players have helped shape the nation’s manufacturing landscape, sending millions of travellers on adventures through Australia and beyond.
While Victoria remains the epicentre of caravan production in Australia, Queensland is snapping at its heels with a growing share of the market.
Despite strong demand, local companies are under increasing pressure from cheaper Chinese imports and have endured a costly hangover from the Covid-fuelled boom.
Meet some of Australia’s biggest caravan company bosses and find out which ones have broken down by the roadside.
Victoria
Gerry Ryan, founder and chairman of Jayco Corporation
Jayco is Australia’s largest caravan and recreational vehicle manufacturer, and is this year celebrating its 50th birthday.
According to its latest report lodged with ASIC, the company racked up more than $660m revenue for a $26.2m profit in the 2023-2024 financial year.
It produces a wide range of caravans, pop-tops, motorhomes and camper trailers and operates a sprawling manufacturing base in Dandenong South, as well as 29 dealerships across Australia.
Founder Gerry Ryan still chairs the board, while former Kenworth trucking boss Andrew Hadjikakou took the CEO role in 2023 after Mr Ryan took a step back from the company he launched in 1975.
Jayco churns out more than 10,000 units a year.
Jayco is not Mr Ryan’s only enterprise - he’s also owned multiple tourist attractions across Australia, including the Monarto Safari Park in South Australia.
He ploughed more than $40m into redeveloping the zoo into a luxury resort over the past five years and placed it on the market with a reported $50m price tag in June last year.
It sold to US-based travel company Journey Beyond earlier this year.
While Jayco is Australia’s most successful caravan and camper producer, it has also found itself at odds, on occasion, with the country’s consumer watchdog.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing the company over its advertisements and product warranties, claiming it misled customers about the off-road capabilities of its caravans and campers.
Jayco has said it would “vigorously defend” the lawsuit, which is still before the Federal Court.
It’s not Jayco’s first brush with the ACCC – it was ordered to pay a $75,000 penalty for making a false or misleading representation to a consumer about their consumer guarantee rights in 2017.
Van Baardwyk family, A’Van
A’Van was established by expatriate Dutch couple Jeff and Marion Van Baardwyk in 1993, making a mark with their unique folding A-line campers.
The company, now directed by their son Scott Van Baardwyk, churns out more than 2000 campers, pop tops, hard tops and motor homes every year from its Pakenham factory.
According to its latest financial report lodged with ASIC, A’Van employs 185 people and had revenue of almost $60m in FY24.
Jason Grech, co-founder of Titanium Caravans
Titanium has a head office at Epping, manufacturing base at Victoria’s caravan-making hotspot of Campbellfield, and also has service centres in Melbourne and Brisbane, where it launched a massive dealership earlier this year.
The off-road van company has made a splash on this year’s season of Channel 9 reno series The Block, with contestants and the show’s host Scott Cam sleeping in Titanium vans for the duration of filming.
Titanium’s general manager is former Hawthorn AFL player Josh Gibson, who appeared on several episodes of the show as part of the sponsorship deal.
Titanium has also attracted publicity by courting influencers and high-profile sports people like former rugby player Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins, DJ Fisher, and various “van life” vloggers.
Titanium, which made 450 caravans last financial year and is planning a foray into the US market, was founded by Joe Grech and his son Jason in 2012, with Mr Grech Sr retiring in 2018.
The company that originally started the business, Titanium Caravans Pty Ltd, went into voluntary liquidation on February 11 this year, with Joe Grech filing a declaration the company was solvent and had no debts aside from what it would pay the liquidator.
Current trading company Titanium Caravans Australia is directed by Jason Grech, investor Ferdi Kayakesen and the company’s CFO Carl Browne.
The brand employs more than 100 people and it has built more than 2500 off-road caravans.
Robert and Louise Cataldo, Nova Caravans
Nova Caravans manufactures a range of caravans and pop-tops from its base in Campbellfield.
The company was founded in 2006 by Robert Cataldo, and is co-owned with wife Louise, company records show.
Nova quickly outgrew its first factory in Rex Rd Campbellfield and eventually opened a purpose-built facility in the same suburb, with more than 80 staff churning out more than 10 caravans a week.
In 2022, Mr Cataldo formed a new company, Nova RV Melbourne, which has its own website and advertises the Nova Caravans range.
Serge Valentino, founder and managing director of Crusader Caravans
Former caravan plumber Serge Valentino founded Crusader under the name Dreamhaven in 2001.
Crusader is known for its “fully Australian-made” caravans with a focus on quality build, including one-piece composite panels.
The company, which re-registered the business name Dreamhaven Caravans in May this year, is located in Somerton, employs more than 200 people, and has more than 12 dealerships nationwide. Crusader is a platinum sponsor of the Collingwood AFL club.
Like its key competitor Jayco, Crusader has also been in trouble with the ACCC, paying $33,000 in fines related to claims it made about waterproofing tests conducted on caravans in 2023.
At the time, Crusader said it disagreed with ACCC’s position, but would not contest the matter.
John Christou, founder of Paramount Caravans
Mr Christou founded Paramount Caravans in 2001, and remains its sole director and shareholder.
Paramount advertises itself as an Australian owned and operated family business, and “not a mass producer of caravans”, choosing to instead focus on customising vans to suit their customers.
Mr Christou’s wife Kaye is also part of the business, having worked there as financial controller.
The company makes pop-tops, small, luxury and family caravans as well as “toy haulers” for customers who want to carry motorbikes or other vehicles.
Queensland
James Creswick, director of Titan Caravans
Titan, based in the Brisbane suburb of Burpengary, advertises a wide range of caravans, manufactured using imported fibreglass composite shells.
The factory adds Australian-made fixtures, producing “adventure-ready” caravans that range from family tourers to extreme off-road hybrids.
Creswick grew up in his parents’ caravan dealership on Brisbane’s southside but he saw there were more opportunities to make caravans rather than just sell them.
In 2020, Titan snared a $7 million deal to supply more than 100 vans to one of the country’s biggest dealers, South Australian-based Dave Benson Caravans.
Jason Wylie, director of Sunland Caravans
This Caboolture-based manufacturer of high-end, off-road caravans was founded by Roy Wyss, but sold in 2023 to Mr Wylie and his business partners, already well-established in the industry with their Melbourne-based Essential Caravans, Design RV, and Lumberjack Campers businesses.
Sunland, which has operated for about 20 years, promotes its vans as being “100 per cent Australian made” and focuses on customisation and durability.
Vaughan Hindley, director of MDC Campers & Caravans
MDC, also known as Market Direct Caravans, has a strong presence in the camper trailer and caravan market, with a focus on off-road capabilities and hybrid models.
From its headquarters in Brisbane’s Cooper’s Plains, the family-owned company operates a nationwide network, with showrooms in Brisbane, Caboolture, Newcastle, Sydney, Campbellfield, Adelaide, and Perth.
The company has been operating for 20 years and bills itself as being the best value brand with the highest quality.
MDC campers are largely manufactured in China, but designed and engineered in Australia, with final touches and some assembly completed in MDC’s Australian facilities.
More recently, the company has branched out into more high-end models, registering the business name for Gold Class Caravan Sales.
Gall family, Kedron Caravans
Kedron is one of Australia’s longest-established caravan makers, and is known for building rugged, off-road caravans that are designed for Australia’s harsh conditions.
The group was founded by Barry Gall in 1962 and its display centre remains on the original site at on Gympie Rd at Kedron.
It’s now run by Barry’s son’s Peter David and Glen Gall.
Jie Alex Bi, Paradise Motorhomes, JB Caravans
Mr Bi, who also runs Victoria-based JB Caravans, has worked to restore the reputation of Paradise, which was purchased from administrators for $2m after a devastating $20m collapse of the companies that previously operated it.
The retirement dreams of previous Paradise customers were dashed when its three companies went into administration in October 2022. Some were owed as much as $400,000 each for motorhomes they never received.
JB Caravans restarted Paradise operations at Yatala and embarked on a hiring spree to revive the company.
Paradise aims to “bring together luxury, spaciousness and superior, individually handcrafted motorhomes to you”.
Mr Bi continued his expansion plans last year, buying a major stake in Victoria’s New Age caravans.
New South Wales
Binns family, Avida Motorhomes & Caravans
Avida is one of the country’s largest RV manufacturers, employing more than 200 people and building 600 Avida vehicles a year.
The group began life in 1965 as the Freeway Camper company, after Bruce and Ruth Binns brought the first slide-on camper to Australia.
It then morphed into Winnebago in 1978 and changed its name to Avida in 2013.
The company is still operated by the Binns family, including CEO Ben Binns and Samantha Binns – who also runs a truffle farm in the Capertee Valley.
Avida operates out of a 10-acre site at Emu Plains in Western Sydney and sells through dealerships nationally.
The company’s financial reports are not publicly available.
Berry family, Trakka
Trakka, located at Mt. Kuring-Gai, has spent more than 50 years making bespoke campervans and motorhomes, with a focus on luxury fit-outs.
Founded by the late Dave and Sally Berry, the company is now directed by the next generation – Alister, Alex and Olivia.
Trakka has carved a niche in converting Volkswagen, Fiat, and Mercedes-Benz bases into luxury campervans and motorhomes.
Nick Edwards and Heidi Cochrane, Mountain Trail RV
Mountain Trail has been producing these Australian-made luxury off-road campers and caravans in Albury for almost 20 years and also has a Queensland office on the Gold Coast.
it employs 70 staff and produces 10 different models.
Mr Edwards is very hands-on with the company’s marketing, appearing in its social media videos driving the RVs and showing people around.
South Australia
Sam and Jenna Reynolds, Offline Campers
Engineer Sam Reynolds and his wife Jenna set up Offline Campers after struggling to find a product that met the needs of their young family. What started as a passion project to build a camper for their own family in the backyard shed soon transformed into a fully-fledged business, and after two years of research and development they released their first product in 2018.
The company is riding a surge in demand from high-end off-roaders, and has announced a tripling of its floorspace at the Lionsgate Business Park – the site of the former Holden factory that closed in 2017.
Michael Steindorf, Kakadu Caravans
This family operation, which also operates dealership Adelaide City Caravans, boasts 25 years of experience manufacturing off-road caravans exclusively in South Australia.
Kakadu positions itself as fully Australian-made for local terrain.
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Originally published as Kings and queens of Australia’s $23bn caravan and camper industry revealed
