and motorhomes announced in UK

The Owner Satisfaction Awards 2023, assessed via joint surveys undertaken by The Camping and Caravanning Club and the magazines, Practical Caravan and Practical Motorhome between January and October 2022, have revealed which caravans, awnings, folding campers, tents and motorhomes that their owners in the UK like the most. The two most popular awnings were from the Vango brand: Kela and Galli. The winner of the Best Caravan Porch Awning was Sunncamp, and the winner of the Best Caravan Full Awning was Isabella. The winner of the Best Motorhome Awning was Vango. This year, 69% of the owners had awnings with inflatable tube frames, down from 79% the previous year, and 84% of owners said they would buy the same make of awning again. The results of the Caravan Owner Satisfaction Awards 2023 were split between new and pre-owned caravans. The winner for new caravans was Knaus, with Eriba in second place and Adria in third – just ahead of the highest scoring UK manufacturer, Coachman. For pre-owned caravans, Adria took the top place, with Coachman and Eriba in joint second place. Owners voted Coachman as the best caravan manufacturer this year, while for motorhomes, they voted Adria as the Best Motorhome Manufacturer, while for preowned motorhomes, the best manufacturer was a tie between Burstner and Dethleffs. The Best Van Converter (direct sales) for the second year running was the UK manufacturer, Bilbo’s. The Trailer Tent and Folding Camper Owner Satisfaction Survey 2023 choice the Isabella Camp-let and Pennine as their winners, respectively. There were seven categories in the Tent Owner Satisfaction Awards: Best Budget Tents – Quechua; Best Mainstream Tent – Coleman; Best Premium Tent – Karsten; Best Backpacker Tent – Vango; Best Family Tent – Kampa; Best Traditional Pole Tent – Coleman; Best Inflatable Tent – Karsten.

Volkswagen ID. Buzz orders exceed expectations

In 2022, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) delivered a total of 328,600 vehicles to customers, a yearon-year drop of 8.6 per cent, but doubled the number of electric vehicles it delivered thanks to orders for the ID. Buzz – the first Bulli designed as an all-electric vehicle – exceeding expectations with a total of 26,600 orders between May (when pre-sales opened) and the end of the year. VWCV says that 2022 was dominated by the war in Ukraine and the renewed uncertainties in the supply chains, both in terms of production and thus also in units delivered to customers. A total of 10,800 ID. Buzz left the VWCV main factory in Hannover-Stöcken by the end of 2022, and 6,000 have been delivered to customers. “Our ID. Buzz created a real BUZZ in 2022 – not just here, but all over the world”, said Lars Krause, Member of Board of Management VWCV for Sales and Marketing. “We are very happy with the launch of our first all-electric Bulli from Hannover”. Krause continued: “In the last few months, we’ve already succeeded in doing this and we’ve been able since September to increase deliveries to customers significantly. In November and December, we sent out 30 per cent more vehicles than in the same period last year”. With a total of 7,500 electric vehicles delivered, VWCV more than doubled the prior year’s figure of 3,600. The most significant proportion of that was accounted for by the ID. Buzz, with which the company has laid the foundations for the large-scale electrification of its vehicle fleet. “The ID. Buzz marks a milestone on our way to achieving the goal of 55 per cent BEV vehicles by the start of the next decade, a target firmly set in our GRIP 2030 strategy”, explained Lars Krause. VWCV received a total of 407,400 orders in 2022, once again way above the number of vehicles delivered to customers, and evidence of the great customer loyalty and high level of interest in VWCV’s current vehicles. Bucking the downward trend, one market, Germany, was able to increase both units delivered and orders taken in 2022: in Germany VWCV achieved a rise in units delivered of 8.3 per cent to 98,400. VWCV’s domestic market thus continues to be the strongest individual market in the world.

Lippert: new Chief Technology Officer

Lippert has promoted Mark Woloszyk to become its Chief Technology Officer to lead Global Product Technology and Innovation initiatives, reporting to Jamie Schnur, President of Aftermarket & Technology. Mark succeeds Rob Ford, who retired at the end of 2022. Jamie Schnur stated: “I would like to thank Rob for his leadership and countless contributions to the Company through the years. During his tenure, Rob and his team have been instrumental in Lippert’s success in the technology and innovation space, with countless product developments and improvements. Our OneControl platform was the key building block in the foundation for our digital products. Rob and his team empowered the rest of our organization to build world class connected products.

Mark Woloszyk is an industry veteran, with over 25 years of experience, and over eight of those years at Lippert. Mark and Rob worked closely together and he is well equipped to lead Lippert’s technology and innovation initiatives in 2023 and beyond. His vision for our organization will allow us to continue to build industry leading products.”