Australian Off Road has entered administration after 26 years of manufacturing.
The news comes after days of speculation about the future of the offroad RV manufacturer.
In a statement posted to the company’s Facebook page, AOR said the business had faced an increasingly difficult operating environment, while pointing to “intensifying product copying, with competitors reproducing concepts, features and design approaches developed through years of AOR’s engineering and product development”.
“At the same time, the market has experienced significant price pressure from increasingly sophisticated Chinese imports, making it increasingly difficult for a premium Australian manufacturer to compete on price while maintaining Australian manufacturing, employment and quality standards,” the statement said.
AOR has also been “facing growing competition from manufacturers operating in lower-cost parts of Australia, particularly southern states where lower wage and property rental costs can provide a significant structural cost advantage over manufacturing on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast”.
According to AOR, these pressures combined to create an increasingly difficult commercial equation: customers continue to value Australian design, engineering and construction, but the market has become increasingly price-driven.
“AOR was never simply a business to us. It was a passion for building products that could withstand the toughest conditions Australia could throw at them and provide exceptional back-up service and warranty at the same time,” AOR founder Steve Budden said.
“We are immensely proud of what we achieved. Unfortunately, the manufacturing environment has changed dramatically. Competing against imported products on price, while also facing competitors with substantially lower manufacturing overheads, has made it increasingly difficult to sustain the business in its existing form.”
GoRV will bring you more news as it becomes available.
