A winning design philosophy Adria Mobil

A WINNING DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

On the eve of its 50th birthday, Slovenian company Adria Mobil enjoys a reputation as a trend-setting European caravan brand. Mrs Sonja Gole, the company’s CEO, reflects on the corporate philosophy that underlies its achievements. Vanja Švačko reports.

Since the beginning, when Adria Mobil presented its first caravan at the Stockholm fair in 1965, it was inevitable that the company’s future would be exportfocused. With its extensive portfolio of recreational vehicles, Adria Mobil is present in almost all European countries. It has recently recorded strong growth in Germany and France and is the market leader in Scandinavia. Today it is also successfully trading in Asia and Australia, accessing new markets in China and Russia, and is constantly on the lookout for new business opportunities.

Testimony of competence

As part of the Adria Mobil Group, Adria Mobil d.o.o. designs and manufactures recreational vehicles under the brands Adria and Sun Living. The entire portfolio is divided into three types of products. The Motorhome range (integrated, crossover, semi-integrated and specialist vehicles) is designed for various equipment levels and is targeted towards different price points (economy, premium and superior). The Caravan range, with its new i-design (intelligent design) philosophy boasts contemporary exteriors made with the best materials and interiors that provide outstanding comfort. The last part of the portfolio, a camper van conversion called Twin, comes in different sizes, from 4.99m up to 6.36m, and also offers some outstanding features.

Adria Mobil has received numerous awards for its business performance across all its product categories. Mrs Gole tells us, “Recent recognitions include European Innovation Awards for our luxury caravan,the Astella Glam Edition, and an innovative design award for the new Altea, a family oriented range of caravans with a premium interior offered at an attractive price. The new Altea also recently won Caravan of the Year in the Netherlands and the new Adora, with its innovative new sky-roof and panoramic window, won a similar award in the competitive UK market.”

Adria’s motorhomes have also won a prestigious German Konig Kunde Award from Reisemobil International four years in a row. Another very important achievement was a fleet of Matrix and Sonic motorhomes, sent as support vehicles to the racing team that won the 2014 Dakar. This was a clear testament to the company’s competence, as well as to the endurance and quality of its vehicles.

Investing in integration

In order to expand its global presence, Adria Mobil has been making significant investments in its operations. The group currently consists of nine separate companies that tackle different areas such as caravan furniture production, product distribution or tourist services.

Over the past decade the development, production and marketing of motorhomes, caravans and vans have been centralised in Novo mesto. The company has invested over €30 million equipping its plant with advanced technologies and equipment. The other two plants are located nearby and are specialised in the production of mobile homes and furniture for recreational vehicles.

Considering the fact that the caravanning market in Europe was badly hit by the financial crisis, Adria Mobil can be pleased with its annual production of over 8500 vehicles and 2013 turnover of €200 million.

“Achieving a more than 6 per cent market share gives us a positive feeling about our brand name, which has mainly evolved through constant investments in product development, innovations and high quality products manufactured on our state-ofthe-art production lines. Strong distribution partnerships have enabled us to capitalise on our investments. Furthermore, the quality of our products was also demonstrated by our success on the European market, where Adria is continuously ranked among best performing brands on the market,” states Mrs Gole.

In bringing its production to a whole new level, the company is investing around €5 million every year in vehicle layout design. Examples of the latest innovations are smart kitchens, ergo (ergonomic) bathrooms and new multi-media walls with integrated multimedia solutions including features such as tablet-docking stations.

Fruitful partnership

Adria Mobil works closely with some of the biggest companies in the industry, including Fiat and Renault. Mrs Gole adds, “With our 2015 camper vans and motorhomes we have achieved perfect integration with the new base vehicles from Fiat and Renault. The new Fiat Ducato has new exterior styling, a new cabin and many new driving enhancements and our motorhomes can integrate seamlessly with this. From the design aesthetics, to the optimisation of internal space between Fiat’s new cabin and the motorhome living space, through to the chassis and driving improvements there are simply no better, more integrated motorhome and camper van designs available. With the new Renault Master, the 2015 Matrix Supreme also manages to integrate perfectly with the new Renault styling, cabin and engines.”

Adria Mobil plans to grow organically in all of its business segments. After the world premiere of the new 2015 vehicle range at the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon in August this year, Adria Mobil is set to embark on the next stage in its journey. n

Visit: www.adria-mobil.com