Safety first
Volkswagen’s new converter approval scheme and why it’s so important
Earlier this year, Volkswagen UK launched its Motorhome Qualification Scheme to highlight the best campervan conversions using its base vehicles. Companies that meet VW’s strict criteria can now display official certification on their websites and when marketing their campers. Arguably, it’s a scheme that is long overdue, as conversion companies seem to be springing up everywhere to meet the burgeoning demand for campers – but with little enforced regulation.
Of course, the larger motorhome and campervan manufacturers are usually National Caravan Council members and will already build to the NCC’s strict standard, while even those who are not members will have to get their vehicles Type Approved if they are converting brand-new base vehicles. However, many firms circumvent Type Approval by starting with pre-registered or pre-owned vans, leaving you with little reassurance that the vehicle has been converted to a high standard. Remember that, in most cases, the structure of the base vehicle is being altered by cutting out panels to fit the windows and elevating roof, while seats and seatbelts are being added. It is seat systems that cause the greatest concern, as Nick Axtell, Specialist Sales Manager for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, advises, “Just because a seat has been pull tested and has an approval, doesn’t mean a converter’s fitment is tested and has approval.” We have heard terrifying stories of seats simply ripping out of the floor in an accident because of inadequate fixings, while Adrian Cross at Hillside Leisure points out that a two-seater RIB bench with two 75kg passengers has to be able to withstand a force equivalent to 7.5 tonnes to pass testing.
Clearly, NCC approval and either National Small Series or European Whole Vehicle Type Approval, already provide reassurance of a safely converted vehicle and manufacturers must meet both of these standards before being awarded membership of VW’s Motorhome Qualification Scheme. However, with so many campervans wearing the Volkswagen roundel, the company wanted to drive up standards in the sector and signpost customers towards converters meeting all the relevant standards. “There are varying degrees of approval in the market and we wanted a way to show customers which have made the investment and commitment to the very highest quality and standards”, Nick told What Motorhome.
To become part of the scheme, companies must also register on the Body Builder Database and provide a minimum of £5 million liability insurance. In addition, the warranty provided on all aspects of the conversion – from leisure battery to pop-top – must match the three years’ cover on the base vehicle.
FOUR AND MORE
Hillside Leisure in Derby, Rolling Homes Camper in Shrewsbury (see photo right), and Scottish firm, Jerba Campervans, were the first three companies to get Volkswagen’s new MQS approval. Now, VW has just signed a fourth converter to the scheme – CJL Leisure in Weston-super-Mare.
But that’s not the end of it, as Nick confirms, “We are also working towards qualification with four other converters currently and have had enquiries from another handful to date. I think having 10 to 20 on the scheme would be ideal, giving a good range of options to customers, and helping them identify
conversions with Type Approval and NCC approval.” And there won’t be an upper limit if the scheme helps to improve standards in the campervan industry.
Of course, not every conversion company will be able to meet Volkswagen’s exacting standards and one key requirement is that only brand-new vans are converted. “One of our stipulations is that vans are registered (first registration) correctly as a camper [motor caravan on the registration document], using a second stage Type Approval that represents the finished product. Registering first to avoid Type Approval, or just maintaining registration as a commercial vehicle, are not supported.” That can only be a good thing and one has to question how long it will be before these legal loopholes are tightened so conversions cannot be carried out without any form of Type Approval. In any case, there may be insurance difficulties – as well as lower speed limits – for leisure vehicles still registered as vans.
In the meantime, Volkswagen hasn’t refused MQS approval to any companies that have applied but it has had applications where the converter doesn’t yet meet the minimum criteria, so it is working with them on what they need to change and improve. In these cases, Nick says, “I guess you could say we have postponed approval rather than refused it.”
And it’s not just a case of getting approval and then sitting back on your laurels. There will be follow-up checks, including annual reviews of all the criteria set, to ensure approvals and insurances remain in place and valid. Nick adds, “We will, of course, also be working with these converters throughout the year, so we will be operationally ensuring standards are being maintained and, importantly, that our customer experience expectations are being met.”
IT’S ABOUT CHOICE
Volkswagen is currently developing new pages on its website to promote the MQS and qualified converters, but of course its T6.1 California (along with Grand Cali and Caddy siblings) will always be the company’s main focus. “It’s the original, the one we’re famous for, and a true factory product of which we’re incredibly proud”, says Nick.
But, he adds, “It would be arrogant of us to ignore the converters and we know customers want choice. If that choice is not a factory-built California, I would rather signpost them to converters building on our base vehicles with the right levels of approval.”
The MQS approval has been welcomed by leading converters, too. As Hillside’s Adrian Cross says, “If you’re not going to buy off me, then you should buy from someone else who has the MQS badge.” Despite the newness of the scheme and the low-key promotion of it by VW so far, Mark Cooper at Rolling Homes has even received orders from customers who said they would only buy a VW-approved conversion.
And the reasons for looking for an MQS approved campervan go beyond the obvious safety concerns with conversions that don’t have Type Approval. Resale values of conversions with well-known brand names and Type Approval should be excellent, while other makes may be hard to resell at all, with many dealers refusing to take them in part-exchange – at any price.