Industry insiders Meet Slavica Sterk, MD of Adria UK
What’s special about your brand – what’s its USP?
At shows, customers say that they come to our stand because they want to see something different. The products are very modern and contemporary, and appeal to people who value design.
We don’t try to make vehicles that look like a second home or a living room – it’s an RV, so we make it functional, open and light.
Our ad campaigns focus on ‘contemporary design for living’ and ‘built to perform’. We are all about design and quality, with 55 years of history.
What news from your brand, are there launches this year? All development is now running normally and we plan to launch products as usual, but we have to support the dealers with stock and to see how good the bounce back is in June.
We hope that we get a lot of new customers and the gap of two months will be swallowed up in 2021, so if we take 2020 and 2021 figures as a whole, we end up with two good years.
Where do you see the industry going?
When it comes to caravans, although we also offer smaller models, customers want big beds, kitchens, lounges and bathrooms, and when you put it all together you end up with larger vans.
In motorhomes, the trend is towards shorter, lighter models with lower fuel consumption that are easier to manoeuvre. Development is going into 3.5t, but we will offer larger models for people who want them.
What’s on your playlist? I like Queen, Dire Straits and Bruce Springsteen.
Favourite meal or recipe while out on tour?
On a short trip, I might prepare something simple in one pot, like king prawns, courgettes and noodles – easy peasy! It’s delicious.
Tell us something about you that might surprise people! I’m proud of the fact that a year ago, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. I enjoy extreme trekking and I like having the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and test my determination.
IT’S FUNNY HOW life can come and hit you at unexpected moments. The last time I tried out this caravan was straight after picking it up from Adria’s UK headquarters, in Sudbury, Suffolk. Then, I signed off my report by saying, “I’m looking forward to many trouble-free nights in this van.”
That stay was in mid-january (14 to 16 January, to be exact). As we all know, many caravan parks remain open for the first two weeks of January, possibly to catch the last of any extended Christmas break. But the vast majority tend to shut for February and most of March, when, let’s face it, the weather isn’t exactly likely to be saying, “Come out to play!”
Touring put on hold
So I sat back and started dreaming about where I might take the Aire when caravan parks began opening again in March and April, perhaps for a pleasant little break over Easter. That was before the lockdown descended on 24 March.
Since then, obviously, we haven’t taken the caravan anywhere. Not for April, May or June. Easter has gone, and both public holiday weekends in May. Terrible.
Only now, as I write this in June, do I dare to dream again, as current plans seem to suggest that, in England at least, caravan parks will be opening again at the start of July.
I shouldn’t necessarily need to worry about social distancing requirements, because the Aire comes with a spacious end washroom and a shower cubicle that is larger than a good many caravan park showers I have seen. So I won’t need to use any toilet block.
It should be fairly easy to rely on the caravan for cooking, too, because the Aire is one of those generously sized two-berths with a large sideboard, which could provide plenty of extra kitchen storage if needed. I will just have to go easy on the amount of clothes that I pack!
I wouldn’t mind too much, either, if I end up having to spend most of the time in the
| SUMMER SPECIAL 2020
Tested by Sarah Wakely Price £17,499 Berths 4 MIRO 1059kg Payload 147kg MTPLM 1206kg
D
11 16