SALES DEPARTMENT

Monday 19th December           10.00am – 4.00pm

Tuesday 20th December           10.00am – 4.00pm

Wednesday 21st December      10.00am – 4.00pm

Thursday 22nd December         10.00am – 4.00pm

Friday 23rd December               Closed for Christmas, sales will reopen on Tuesday 3rd January 2023

Contact Sales at:    sales@derbymotorhomes.com

SERVICE DEPARTMENT

Final working day prior to Christmas will be Friday 16th December,

the department will reopen Tuesday 3rd January 2023.

An end of year message from our M.D.

2022, What a year!

Well, hasn’t Christmas come around fast? It must be almost a year since I was last thinking about what to say to our customers in December, and here we are again……………………!

Challenge

It has been a challenging year in the leisure industry, for customers, for dealers and for manufacturers. New vehicle supply has been limited, delivery delays have been long, and prices have risen. These have all been frustrating and disappointing challenges for us all to face but some-how we’ve managed to work our way past each challenge and make it to the end of another year.

There have been a multitude of reasons for the issues dealers have faced this year – the worst of these being delays in supply or manufacture combined with price increases, but there really isn’t one single thing, alone, that’s been the cause of all our problems.

Cause

We could look to blame component or parts supply, or raw material delays or transport logistics issues or energy costs but the reality is, it’s all of these things and more; worse than this though is the fact that there’s nothing that any of us can do to make these issues any better in the short-term, we simply have to get on as best we can.

This is however, easier said than done for a customer who may have waited 9 months for their new motorhome, only to find out that the price has increased or someone who needed their motorhome for a special event or particular holiday and has missed out, but there isn’t anything your dealers or manufacturer can do to mitigate this; dealers and manufacturers are all working on reduced sales volumes with increased overheads; believe me when I say, we feel your disappointment and we are, actually, all in this together and anyone who may have suffered delays or price increases has my deepest sympathy and my greatest respect too for their understanding.

Information

We have fielded lots of requests for information and updates this year and have tried very hard to get the information required, but this hasn’t been easy. Every day there will be, quite literally, hundreds of prospective customers, from all over the country and from every single dealer, asking for the same information, and manufacturers simply can’t respond because they don’t have the staffing and even then, can’t get the information required from their suppliers either! So, I thank everyone for your continued patience.

Better news

There is some good news though, supply is (slowly) improving, although I must point out that we aren’t awash with motorhomes, and we certainly aren’t going to see supply back to previous, more normal levels any time soon. Customers are though now seeing their new models arriving and from our perspective, we are getting some factory fresh showroom models we can display, something that has been missing for the last year or more.

So, things are getting better, it will take time and the watchword for this year must be “PLANNING”; if you know you want to change or buy for the first time, please plan well ahead.

NEC Show

I have to say that the NEC show this October was a stunning success for us, so thank you to everyone who placed an order with us; we took the decision to only sell models that we had visibility of, i.e., we know the chassis are built so will arrive for conversion and our customers appreciated this.

Before we know-it, the February show will be upon us again too so, we’ll look forward to meeting customers old and new again then.

Buying used Auto Sleepers  

This year, more so than ever before due to the severe shortage of new models, I’ve been concentrating hard on buying as many used Auto-Sleepers as possible so, if you’re giving up motor-homing and have an Auto-Sleeper that’s under 10 years old and in lovely condition, why not give me a call? We pay top dollar for the right models and I’m happy to travel to you if needs-be to collect; payment is always on delivery/collection and via faster payment bank transfer, so funds are in your account before we leave!

The Derby Team

One final word for the team that work here in Derby, you have all been wonderful this year and without your hard work, dedication, and willingness to “go that extra mile”, we couldn’t enjoy the success that we have, so thank you.

Merry Christmas

It just leaves me to thank each of our customers for your continued support and wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Tim Lemon – Managing Director