Australian Tvan in the USA - who wants 'em? (1 Viewer)

[John E Davies]

The Tvan is the one trailer that gives me a hard-on every time I see a pic, but Track Trailers make some other interesting, less radical, models very well suited to corrugated gravel and pure off road exploring.

http://www.tracktrailer.com/index.html

I emailed the company a couple of years ago asking if they would consider importing them to the USA, and they seemed interested, but as far as I know nothing came of it.

Please check out the suspension video linked from this page:

http://www.tracktrailer.com/tvan.html

and look over the gallery and specs if you are unfamiliar with this fine trailer. It has been very well received by the Australian press and the buyers who take it far into the remote Outback.

Here's the brochure:

http://www.tracktrailer.com/brochures/Tvan_Brochure.pdf

So, if this trailer were available in the USA (even if it were $25,000, the approximate current cost in US dollars) would you be at all interested? Is there ANY kind of market for a hyper-tent trailer here in this land of boxy 28 foot long air conditioned toy-haulers?

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[brittan]

It's just too much $$$ for your average American Jo...AU is a different market. They endure longer distances between services, are more apt to camp on vacation, and rely more on their kit once in the bush. If you were to amortize the cost of the trailer over its life vs. the American vacation at Disneyland the Tvan would come out on top...but I think it's a hard sell to the "everything is disposable" American.
Don't get me started on support for the unit and the expense you would have there...I don't blame Tvan for not entering the US market.

 

[mobi-arc]

I wonder how many get sold in a year at that price? Does low volume necessitate high price per unit?

 

[spressomon]

Christo recently mentioned to me he was thinking about bringing in a trailer to market...maybe even this one...from Australia. You might contact him if you are interested and find out which one he is going to import.

 

[brittan]

Christo was looking at the Kimberly the last I heard.
http://www.kimberleykampers.com/
Still an expensive item at over 20K.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

For $25,000 I'd be looking for an FJ45 to convert to a camper.

 

[John E Davies]

Christo recently mentioned to me he was thinking about bringing in a trailer to market...maybe even this one...from Australia. You might contact him if you are interested and find out which one he is going to import.

Cool... he could fill the Tvans up in Oz with ARB stuff, OME springs, and Milford cargo barriers and save a bunch on shipping.

I can't see a small outfit like Slee Off Road handling US distribution for the Tvans, but who knows? The customers he deals with every day are plenty enough hard-core to appreciate its features.

I'll send him a quick PM. Maybe he'll chime in here.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[John E Davies]

Here's an email I received from Oz, and a long reply I sent back. I don't know how much interest there is in this, but what the heck....

Ben Hubbard wrote:

> John, thank you for your enquiry on the Tvan.
>
> We have considered the US market in the past but the freight cost and set up into the US market has been a deterrent.
>
> If you know of someone in the US that would be interested in being an agent for our product we would be interested.
>
> In the mean time we wouldn’t be sending a van to the US as the market for the product in our eyes is too small.
>
> Yours Sincerely
>
> Ben Hubbard
> General Manager
> Track Trailer

Ben;

Thanks very much for the quick reply. I don't personally know of a dealer here who would be interested. As you said, the USA cost for the Tvan would be very high and I don't know how many buyers there are in the USA - not too many I am afraid. The South African Overlander (I think that is the name) trailers have a US distributor but I am not aware of how many they are selling. But that is a much more affordable trailer than the Tvan....

Most American buyers seem to want a big square wood and sheet metal box with microwave oven, shower and air conditioning.....and stone aged suspension.

Realistically, there aren't the same type of corrugated roads here as you have in Australia, and we can't just head cross-country due to strict environmental laws. So the number of places the Tvan would be actually "needed" is relatively low. However, it sure seems to me that there could be a steady but limited enthusiast market in Southern California and, to a lesser degree, the desert southwest states (Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico), especially for those many American off-roaders who venture into the wild country of Baja California, Mexico. They often have PLENTY of cash, certainly enough for a way cool trailer that costs less than half the investment of their tricked out desert truck. Even if they didn't fully utilize its capabilities, it would definitely have some visual impact at their next 4wd rally! And there are lots of off-roaders who camp the back-country of the desert and Rocky Mountains in soft tents because they can't get anything else down the trail behind their Jeeps. Some of these are potential buyers.

Imagine the uproar if someone pulled a Tvan through the Rubicon Trail! Do not discount the strength of lust over need. The VAST majority of US$30,000 motorcycles are sold solely by an excess of cash and unbridled lust. And they usually are only ridden a few thousand miles during the summer.

Have you seen the EarthRoamer? I believe it is selling reasonably well and it retails for well in excess of US$140,000. There is a market for excess here.... I saw one in person and I just about died from envy.
http://www.earthroamer.com/main_truck/vehicles.html

++++EDIT - The price is well north of $200K!!!++++

It might be worthwhile to at least contact a US 4wd magasine like "Four Wheeler" and ask the editors what they think about a possible market for the Tvan. If you provide them with promotional literature, they might want to publish a review with off-road pictures for their readers enjoyment. You could even offer to fly one of them to Australia to see the factory, and send them off with a guide and a Tvan for a couple of weeks into the Kimberley. You never know.... I think it would be a logical and cheap investment to explore this avenue.

If I ever come back to Australia to live, I would own a turbo-diesel Land Cruiser and a Tvan within a year!

Regards and good luck,

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[sleeoffroad]

Just FYI, we are set up as the dealer for King Kampers. www.kingkampers.com They are the same as Kimberley campers in Australia, just a different name for the US. We have not started to actively promote them due to some paperwork issues etc from NHTSA. We do have two units in stock. As soon as the paperwork is finished we will add them to the site.

 

[John E Davies]

Hi Christo - it is a always good to hear from you. So what do you think of the Tvan question - is there ANY sort of niche market in the US for this trailer?

Did you consider bringing them in at any time?

Have you ever seen one in person? Comments?

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[pplkook]

I have yet to see someone be able to support a long-term import of these trailers (several folks have tried) due to the market size - sure you well sell one or two, but the DOT rules are a pain, plus you have to deal with the shipping headache. A decent business model would be to get setup with OEMs in South Africa and Australia now, and then import vehicles during periods of a strong dollar. For example the SA Rand has gond from 10-1 to less than 4-1!

I hope it works out, playing the currency exchange seems to be the only way to get these things in at a price point that is attractive to more than an handful of folks.

My 2cents

-Jack

p.s. I did see a KK in person, and man it was super sweet. There wasn't as much storage as I would have thought though, but it was a 2000 model, and the new gull-wing box config seems to add more space. My lust for one is as exactly as described above - Baja surf, set up the trailer as a base camp and have your vehicle for local exploration. Having your vehicle be primary base camp I think is lame.

I really like the new Desert Wolf trailers with the new tents with more of an external canopy capability.

 

[roscoFJ73]

I wonder how many get sold in a year at that price? Does low volume necessitate high price per unit?

They do sell plenty here and for 2 reasons. With the cost of fuel going through the roof low line compact campers have much less drag than full size vans.
Also there is a trend here towards smaller home blocks and not everyone can store a full size van on their property.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Hi Christo - it is a always good to hear from you. So what do you think of the Tvan question - is there ANY sort of niche market in the US for this trailer?

Did you consider bringing them in at any time?

Have you ever seen one in person? Comments?

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Never seen a TVAN trailer. The market is not big and it is going to take time to develop. Kimberley has commited to the US market. They hired a US engineer and moved him to Australia to localize the US models of the trailer. So the service parts can be obtained locally etc etc. Currently registering with NHTSA and also the trailers will be DOT approved and have US VIN numbers.

Also spares and accessories are going to be located with us, and service will be available from dealers being set up.

 

[pplkook]

Are the NA KK trailers going to have a solid axle or the trailing A-arm configuration?

-Jack

 

[sleeoffroad]

The 06 and later models have trailing arms with coil springs and Fox shocks.

 

[jerdog53]

John E Davies Wrote;

The Tvan is the one trailer that gives me a hard-on every time I see a pic, but Track Trailers make some other interesting, less radical, models very well suited to corrugated gravel and pure off road exploring.

I agree whole hartedly What has happened sence this does anyone know?

Jerry

 

[Augie]

How about Kamparoo
Not as heavy duty as TVan but they are available in US for about $7K for the basic unit

 

[Enigma]

Old thread I know...but I still want one of these Tvans. Don't know how to pay for it though, gofundme seems to be all the rage these days