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Pandemic-Fueled Campervan Sales Boom in the Japanese Market, Targets Young Workers

Japanese businesses are becoming more innovative with their campers and other outdoor vehicles, which have gained popularity amid the pandemic.

According to a report, more affordable options have helped boost sales among young drivers in the Japanese market; however, more unusual vehicles are attracting young workers.

During the Japan Camping Car Show 2022 at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba in February, 70 companies displayed automobiles.

Nissan Motor Co. exhibited a prototype camper van named Caravan Myroom Concept. Proposed by a young worker, the van has an adjustable bed and an adjustable desk inside the luggage compartment that can be used to telework or for rest.

In October, R.C. Core Co., a Tokyo-based log housebuilder, has launched the Imago log cabin with wheels and plans to market 1,000 units by the fiscal year 2022.

The cabin, specifically designed to be towable by a sport utility vehicle, is available in two sizes, 6.51 square meters and 11.27 square meters of living space.

It’s priced between ¥3.86 million to ¥4.57 million ($33,500 and $39,700) compared to a full-size camper van that typically retails between ¥7 million to ¥ 8 million.

Jusetz Marketing Co., an outdoor camper manufacturer located in Kobe, sells Movuse camper canopy, which can be mounted on small-sized trucks with an engine displacement of 660 cubic centimeters or less, for ¥583,000. The interior fittings can be altered upon the request of the buyer.

A Movuse-equipped vehicle costs ¥1.8 million. The number of orders doubled in 2021 from 2019, and many new owners were younger than 35.

The preliminary data released by the Japan Recreational Vehicle Association in Yokohama reveal that the total sales of camper vans across Japan in 2021 grew by 9% year on year to ¥63.54 million. This is triple that of ten years ago.

In 2021, 136,000 campers were owned by motorists in Japan, which was up by 6% over the previous year.

Many camper manufacturers are small or mid-sized businesses that purchase basic vehicles from major automakers. It’s rare for domestic auto giants such as Nissan to create camper vans entirely on their own.

The biggest challenge is to deliver campers quickly to their customers.

Nuts RV Co., a camper manufacturer situated in Onga, Fukuoka Prefecture, struggles to keep pace with the demand. The company’s campers sales increased by 20% in 2021 compared to 2019.

“Our products used to be delivered within three to six months, but some models currently take one and a half years to arrive at patrons,” said Kenji Araki, president of Nuts.

The lower production of automobiles due to the worldwide shortage of semiconductors is also a factor in the long delivery time.

This story originally appeared on The Asahi Shimbun.

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Hi, you might find this article from Modern Campground interesting: Pandemic-Fueled Campervan Sales Boom in the Japanese Market, Targets Young Workers! This is the link: https://moderncampground.com/asia/japan/pandemic-fueled-campervan-sales-boom-in-the-japanese-market-targets-young-workers/