Latest Motorhome News

FREEBORN OPEN WEEKEND 6TH - 8TH NOVEMBER 2009

MOTORHOME TEAM ATTACKS
TAX RISE DEADLINE

Motorhome buyers keen to beat the VAT tax rise that comes into effect at midnight on New Year’s Eve are getting special help courtesy of an open weekend at Freeborn Motorhomes in Surrey.

At present, VAT is levied at 15 per cent but after the deadline it returns to 17.5 per cent, bringing a £1,500 price rise on a brand new £70,000 motorhome.

But James Saint and his team at Freeborn Motorhomes at Guildford Road, Godalming, have lined up some of the latest 2010 super luxury models from AutoTrail as well as the whole of the Romahome range made right here in the south by a separate division of Freeborn.

One of the stars of the open weekend, which runs from Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8, is the Romahome R25, which made its public debut recently during the International Caravan and Motorhome Show at the Birmingham NEC.

But it was first revealed to invited guests at a special party for Romahome enthusiasts held at Loseley House just a month ago where James was the first person to sell one. His colleague, Steve Barnes, followed up by selling the first at the NEC and now a friendly rivalry has developed to see who can secure the first order during the open weekend. Hoping to beat them both is fellow salesman Andy Davies.

“We will be showing the whole of the Romahome range, including the R10 Solo that was the star of the motorhome world last autumn and has never looked back since,” said James.

“We had our best show ever at the NEC, with Freeborn Group selling vehicles worth £2.25 million, including 32 orders for new Romahomes. Nine of them were R25s, eight were R10s and even the flagship Romahome, the R40 four berth coachbuilt, achieved five orders.

“Romahome is current Motorhome Manufacturer of the Year, reflecting the quality and innovation of its designs. I’m sure everyone who visits our showroom will warm to them – and we have seasonal fare available to help if the weather’s cold.

“The AutoTrail models are also popular with our customers, who obviously appreciate the class-leading abilities of these super-size vehicles. They are truly luxurious but we still sold 13 at NEC. Hopefully we can add to that at the weekend.

“I know that not everyone wants a new motorhome and we are blessed with a very good selection of used vehicles at the moment. I’m sure there will be some good offers available on them, too.

“But really there’s no pressure to buy anything. People who are only just thinking of motorhome ownership are welcome to come along and have a chat with a team that enjoys owning our own as much as selling our firm’s vehicles.

“We have plenty of advice – and it’s free. Newcomers always have lots of questions and we have lots of answers covering everything from purchase to insurance and even the best way to save money on ferry tickets by taking care over vehicle dimensions. If you need to know it, we should be able to tell it!”

Freeborn Motorhomes is at Guildford Road, Godalming, opposite Guildford Rugby Club. For details call free from a landline on 0800 2118211 or for other callers the number is 01483 429999.

SURREY TEAM’S BIG PART
IN ‘BEST SHOW’ BONANZA

Sales staff from Freeborn Motorhomes in Surrey played a big part in a £2.25 million orders bonanza during a six day show.

Sales manager James Saint, along with Steve Barnes and Andy Davies from the branch in Guildford Road, Godalming, won significant orders in the face of strong competition during the International Caravan and Motorhome Show at the Birmingham NEC and won huge praise from their boss.

Freeborn Group managing director Andrew Jones, who worked in the sales team at the show, said the result was remarkable for both Freeborn as a whole and its Romahome manufacturing division based on the Isle of Wight.

“As well as a dedicated Romahome stand we also had James, Steve, and Andy working on manufacturer stands, as a result of which we sold 13 high-end AutoTrail models and six from Elddis,” he explained. “While the show was in progress, three more vehicles were sold from the Godalming base, including one of the trade-ins that will be arriving from the NEC!

“Our staff placed on manufacturers’ stands were competing against possibly 30 rival firms’ salespeople around the show presenting the same products so to win customers for 19 units is fantastic, especially when one order alone was for a £72,000 AutoTrail.

“They also took orders for three of our own Romahome models – Romahome is current Motorhome Manufacturer of the Year and launched its new R25 nationally at the show after a private viewing event at Loosely Park a couple of weekends before. Other makers have been laying off staff while ours have been working overtime.

“Overall, Romahome received 32 orders at the show, nine of them for the R25, and the order book at the Cowes factory more than doubled in size as a result of the show.

“It’s a fantastic achievement when many motorhome manufacturers and retailers are groaning under the effects of the recession and laying off staff.

“But we are not complacent and realise we have to go on delivering top level service. Motorhome buyers are very loyal and the strong demand for used Romahomes also helps owners can get good trade-in values to keep new sales buoyant.”

Caption: Plenty to smile about – Brian Bailey (left) of Romahome and Andrew Jones, managing director of the Freeborn Group, on the Romahome stand at the NEC beside the new Romahome R25

Romahome Ltd will launch the latest addition to its Micro Motorhome range the "R25" at the International Caravan & Motorhome Show to be held at the Birmingham NEC from 13 - 18th October 2009.

BIGGER, BETTER BUT STILL COMPACT

Romahome launches third generation
‘Swiss Army Knife’ of motorhomes

Romahome is launching the third generation of its compact motorhome conversions, now built on the new Citroen Berlingo, at the NEC International Caravan and Motorhome Show today.

The new R25 carries on the tradition of one piece monocoque bodies that started with models built on the Citroen C15 from the mid 80s, still in huge demand today as used vehicles, and then carried through to the highly popular Citroen Berlingo with models that were recently renamed the R20 to be consistent with the latest nomenclature for the line-up.

The arrival of the second generation Berlingo chassis has enabled the Romahome, based on the Isle of Wight and current Motorhome Manufacturer of the Year, to increase the exterior dimensions by a small degree that belies the huge advantages to be found inside the new body.

“The Romahome has become the Swiss Army Knife of the motorhome world because it manages to pack so much in the way of useful detail into such a compact form,” said Romahome managing director Brian Bailey as he revealed the new model.

The arrival of R25 means Romahome now has a range of five models, starting with the innovative and still unique R10 launched this time last year as a conversion of the diminutive Citroen Nemo van. It became a knock-out product in quick order, placing the factory at Cowes onto overtime to keep up with demand.

The R20 continues in production at present, relaunched at the NEC in two versions as the R20 Hi and the R20 Lo, with the R25 slotting between it and Romahome’s second van conversion, the R30 built around the Citroen Relay. The range tops out with the R40, a coachbuilt using the Citroen Dispatch chassis and with a body that can sleep four and transport six passengers in seats with three point safety belts.

“I know that R25 has been keenly anticipated by Romahome customers, the dealer network, and the specialist motorhome press and I am confident that no-one is going to leave the NEC disappointed by what they discover about our new model,” added Brian Bailey.

“We have consistently picked up awards for our other motorhomes as well as for ourselves for our design and manufacturing standards and I don’t see any change in that with the R25.

“Other people started to imitate the R20 but ultimately it was the Romahome that always won the acclaim and continued to do so as its competitors fell away.

“The quality of our product is never in any doubt and I would suggest that the R25 builds on this significantly.

“We have produced a new model at a competitive price, starting at £29,995 on the road. There is a generous standard specification plus a thoughtful list of options that will allow owners to tailor their R25 exactly as they want it.

“Motorhomes are very much bespoke items and very few people choose a standard model. But for those who do, they will find the R25 contains more than enough equipment.”

Among the contents is a generous amount of storage, with two wardrobes and four overhead lockers. There is flexibility in bed layout and the option to have two three point safety belts in the back, increasing the versatility for owners who don’t want the inconvenience of buying a car to augment their motorhome when they need to carry friends and family.

“One of the beauties of a vehicle like the new R25 is that it is compact enough to be usable every day. With this in mind, the option of the extra seat belts negates the need for a second car especially among buyers who are retired and may want to watch their budget – or who spend a lot of time enjoying their motorhome and therefore have a car sitting around doing nothing for much of the time,” explained Brian.

“Many of our owners are extremely active people so R25 even brings the option of a wet room with upgraded fresh and grey water tanks (increased from 34 litres each to 70 litres), a removable shower tray, and vanity locker with mirror. The R25 already contains a cassette toilet compartment.

“Hot water and blown air heating systems are also in the standard specification, there’s an ample 60 litre fridge / freezer and all the items you might reasonably expect, plus plenty more you might not but would still like to see!

“We’ve also designed a retractable bike rack that simply slides back to allow you access through the rear door without having to remove the bikes. We have even been asked to enter this into the NEC ‘Innovation of the Year’ competition.

“The R25 is powered by Citroen’s 1.6 litre HDi 90 bhp turbodiesel engine so the van has good levels of performance for those who like to spend their holiday where they want to be rather than on the road struggling to get there.

“This is intended above all else to be a very usable motorhome, not one afflicted by compromise due to its size. Naturally you can’t expect all that you would find in an American RV but the R25 is an affordable motorhome that will really be going places!”

For more information, contact Maurice Hardy, PR for Romahome, on 01264 771661 / 07831 272220 (maurice@mauricehardy.com) or Brian Bailey, MD of Romahome, on 01983 292451 / 07795 642120. See the new R25 and the rest of the Romahome range on Stand 10-15 in Hall 10 at the NEC between October 13 and 18.