EP 31 - Inside the All-New Forte SR Series 2

In 2024, MDC entered the on-road touring market with the Forte SR range.

Now, with the launch of the all-new Forte SR Series 2, we’re not just updating a lineup—we’re raising the standard for what customers should expect from an on-road caravan.

In this episode of the Off Grid Down Under podcast, we’re joined by:
• James Field – General Manager (Commercial & Product), MDC
• Wayne Chevis – Assistant National Sales Manager, MDC
• Shane Easton – Applications Engineer, Projecta

Together, we break down how the Series 2 range has evolved from the original SR lineup, what customers were asking for, and how that feedback has shaped a completely reworked range.

This isn’t just about features—it’s about what those features actually enable when you’re out on the road.

We cover:
• How customer expectations in the RV industry are changing
• What “more as standard” really means for buyers
• The real-world impact of upgraded power and electrical systems
• New layouts designed for families and couples
• Integrated systems like IntelliGRID Gen3 and what they mean for usability
• How this range improves comfort, capability, and confidence while touring

The Forte SR Series 2 is built around a simple idea—deliver more where it matters, and make it standard.

If you’re looking at getting into caravanning or upgrading your setup, this episode will give you a clear understanding of what’s changed—and why it matters.

Explore the range: https://www.marketdirect.com.au/new-forte-sr-series-2/

Watch more Off Grid Down Under episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjsVAcWloYAYA64q9ewHGiJ5uhgEGBJYZ

Escape with Confidence

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

We've been working on this project for well over 12 months. The focal point for us was electrical capability.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

How how much of it was a two-way development? Primarily speaking, because MDC are one of the first to adopt these things. If it's something that we see value for the rest of the market, 100%. We'll adopt it, modify it, and make it work for.

SPEAKER_03 0:19

That starts all the way at the beginning. I talk about this all the time. We don't just go and flick through a brochure or look at a shopping list and go, oh yeah, that system looks kind of cool. We might just whack that in.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

It's far from that. Personally, I think these SR2s have actually nailed it on the head because you're getting so much more bang for buck at the price as to what your everyday other manufacturer is doing with the low-end equipment in it.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

So is it less about adding features and more about adding that complete it's adding value?

SPEAKER_02 0:49

There is a folder in my laptop called Dumb Ideas for James.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

As a caravan owner, ultimately, what this caravan has done, it gives everything that I would personally want in an on-road caravan.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

Should come with what you want as standard. And that's really, I guess, what led us to the Ford SR Series 2 model development.

SPEAKER_04 1:23

Welcome everybody to a really exciting episode of the Off-Grid Down Under podcast brought to you by MDC. Why is it exciting? James there, Smiley. Because we're about to unleash a bit of information around a whole new range of on-road caravans that we have just released, and we're going to tell you all about it. We're talking about the Fort SR Series 2 on-road range of caravans from MDC. They've been out for three days, and uh today is all about it. And we've got some special guests. We've got Shane Easton from Projector. Pleasure. Thanks for joining us, mate.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

No, no problems.

SPEAKER_04 1:59

Projector is a major partner of MDC, and you guys provide the electrical systems that are used in all our caravans. So it's uh great to have you on board. Be interested to hear your insights into the product development behind the new range. James. Thank you, Sam. Popping bottles, mate. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

New range launch. Always an exciting time. Uh all these things are a long time in the making, so it's it's kind of nice to see them come to fruition and get to market. Awesome. And uh assistant to the national sales manager.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

No, assistant national sales manager, Wayne Chevis. I am so excited about these vans. Sam, they are gonna change the way that we look at our on-road caravans.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

So absolutely. It's an exciting time. So what better time to be here? Week one. Let's talk about it. Let's uh explain what's happening. James, these are not a new range entirely. Tell us a little bit about where they've come from. In 2024, we released the SR series of on-road caravans. That was a big step forward for MDC. We'd only really played in the off-road space in the past. How did that come about? And I guess what was the goal with the the on-road range at that time and how's that translated to a whole new series?

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Yeah, sure. Um so yeah, June 2024, we launched the the first on-road caravan series. And as you touched on there, it was a first for MDC. We'd never done on-road or dedicated on-road before. Uh, one of the key reasons we wanted to do that is we wanted to make sure that anyone coming into our showrooms, we had a product offering for all facets, and not necessarily everyone wants to go off-road uh or a long time off-grid or anything like that. Uh, so what we found is there was certainly an opportunity for us there to have a dedicated on-road series. So that was back in June 2024. Now we're in what, April 2026. Um the the it's been out in market for some time, and we've learnt a lot in that time in terms of customer expectations and what we could potentially tweak if we were to do a series two. And we've brought all that together and come out with the Ford SR Series 2 range, which arguably, as Wayne touched on before, it's not just an update or an upgrade for us in terms of our range, but I think it's genuinely going to set the standard in terms of on-road touring range uh caravans within the Australian market.

SPEAKER_04 4:21

There's a real shift in the look, feel, capability, specification throughout the whole range. So that's a big that's a big improvement. For sure. Um and also the electrical system, which is quite exciting because we're gonna we'll talk about that in a minute too. But Wayne, from your perspective, uh what are we seeing? Have we seen customers' expectations change in the last few years? Has it been is this kind of in response to what we're hearing from customers in particular?

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Or uh no, look, I think uh at MDC we always like to be a little bit innovative and uh we do like to take our time when we bring things out because we like to bring them out properly, uh, rather than just being the next fad, the next uh craze off the rank and throwing stuff into market. Uh we have seen a shift in the in the consumer's needs and wants, especially around power and comfort. Obviously, uh, you know, people uh going to caravan parks don't necessarily want just that gas hot water system. They want the provision to utilize the power that they're potentially paying for in a caravan park to, you know, gas, gas hot water, also 240 hot water as well. Um the uh solar provisions as well, so solar battery, you know, the the usual thing that you would get with any kind of caravan, but we've kind of just really stepped it up with our new SR Series 2 range. Uh, and uh the interior, the new look and feel, especially the the sage green, which I've had discussions. The sage green is to my generation what that burnt orange corduroy couch in your grandparents' house was.

SPEAKER_04 5:54

Yeah, well, you can thank one of our uh our product designers down in Melbourne, I think, for that. Can't you? He's got that eye for interior detail. It must be definitely Melbourneism in him that's 100%, yeah. That Italian upbringing. So shout out to Adrian and the design team. He's uh certainly been very instrumental in the development of this product. So um Shane, talk about I guess the market. Um, there's been a bit of a shift in the market. Uh do you think it's been kind of predictable in the on-road space?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

And where I'm coming from in that is is around customers expecting perhaps more from the on-road products versus it being kind of a solid axle, you know, I don't know, two-berth kind of caravan or it's predictable where pretty much every manufacturer does the same thing these days. So you're talking maybe a hundred amp hour worth of battery, you're talking solid axle, you're talking generally a queen or a double bed in there, and then your basic amenities. So low-level power management, low-level solar, small battery, this is what you get. Drive it to a caravan and park. Yeah. So it's it's very much the same across the board, no matter which manufacturer you talk to. There's no real complexity in it because there's no in-between. You go from that basic or you go to a full off-grid type system where you're talking huge amounts of power, huge amounts of solar, and you're paying a huge amount of money for it.

SPEAKER_04 7:18

Yeah, it cost you pay yeah, it costs you, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

So you're not getting that in-between market where personally I think these SR2s have actually nailed it on the head because you you're getting so much more bang for buck at the price as to what your everyday other manufacturer is doing with the the low-end equipment in it.

SPEAKER_04 7:37

So what do you think that translates to from a customer expectation then? Like does it does it mean they can use them in different ways or 100%.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

So I I do a lot of camping with my friends, and a lot of that is hip camp. So we find farms and things like that, and a lot of those farms days, they welcome caravans. And that's where I think the SR2 really comes into an own. So you could spend three days down at the farm stay that we have at Larapinta, but you're not having to spend$100,000 on a caravan to do it. You can use this one to spend your three days on a weekend, but at the same token, you can use this one to drive up to the Sunshine Coast and have a holiday up there at a caravan park. It gives you that flexibility without having to add on and add on and add on and add on to get to that point. And that's where it all sort of adds up. It's here is your package. You don't need anything else. You can if you want, but you don't need it.

SPEAKER_04 8:30

It's a great perspective from I guess someone who's very involved in the industry with other manufacturers and things like that. So James, talk to us a little bit about I guess where these have come from, and um, I guess they are a bit of a departure from the norm. We're talking independent suspension as opposed to solid axle. We're talking about updated interiors and greater power management. From a product development point of view, how's that come about and where do you see that now offering the market something different?

SPEAKER_03 8:59

Yeah, so at MDC, the way we always do these things is we have like a model development uh group, which is a core uh function in the business with members from all departments, departments across the business to get feedback. Uh, we also look at the customer feedback extensively in terms of what the series one was like. Uh so that kind of frames what we're trying to achieve. And then we look and go, how can we be innovative? How can we be different? And back to Shane's point, I think we've very much positioned this in between where it's like a touring range on steroids as standard, where everything, there's no options, it's it's highly uh luxurious inside. Obviously, the way we've styled it, uh, I think is really hitting the mark in terms of what's on trend at the moment. The external aesthetic uh brings a real automotive feel, really lifts, I guess, the look and feel of that outside. Um, and capability is another thing that we absolutely wanted to address. So we've gone and put you know, up to 50% more solar capacity as standard, 50% more uh battery capacity as standard. So we're gone from 200 amps of lithium as standard to 300. Uh the the fridges in most of the models have gotten significantly bigger, up to 50 litres. Uh so that's all through customer feedback, but also wanting to lead the charge in what should a customer look at as standard and go, well, why should I have to pay more for that or customize this or just accept this is a touring rage caravan and that's just what it comes with. No, it should come with what you want as standard. And that's really, I guess, what led us to the Ford SR Series 2 model development.

SPEAKER_04 10:39

Yeah, I mean, look, an air conditioner is you look at it, it shows often there you expect it to be standard, but it can be an optional add-in. But these are something that's comes with it as standard. It's not something that you have to spec up later and it costs you another two grand. Wayne, is this what you're hearing from customers? Are expectations changing and and they're wanting more, or are we just going above and beyond because we should and we're trying to innovate?

SPEAKER_02 11:02

I I think we we as a company always go above and beyond anyway, but expectations are definitely changing. And I know we we touched on this with uh a podcast the other day with with uh Stuy Lamont from the association, like what the customer wants uh and what what they want to pay for. So people are wanting more bang for your buck. Uh and I know in in all of our range, people do get a really good value for money in them, but especially with these new SR Series 2s, um, it is one of those things where you you're constantly asked, and I know this this came about from multiple requests in a showroom and at show at the trade shows in particular, but you know, why do you have just a gas hot water system? Why don't you have the gas 240? You know, can I put a microwave in my van? Yes, you can. Like it is one of those things where and it's where we see it regularly on the coal face, and James and his team in particular uh do take that advice on it, especially recommendations from customers. So we do make those changes to to make them more suitable for the end consumer overall.

SPEAKER_04 12:08

So are you seeing any frustrations that I guess we've had to address, not necessarily with our with uh the previous series, but just within the market for on-road caravans? Do you or even to Shane? Do you sort of hear frustrations from customers about what they want in terms of a finished product?

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Really no. Um, those sort of frustrations go back to the manufacturers themselves, and then I deal with the manufacturer once they've told me what those frustrations are. Um, but from sort of a personal point of view as a caravan owner, ultimately what this caravan has done, it gives everything that I would personally want in an on-road caravan, knowing that at the moment my life will be spent at caravan parks because I have young kids, they need something to do. So if I was to buy a brand new van, this gives me everything that I need to do if we go on a long trip. I know I can pull over in a caravan park or a caravan stop, I should say, run overnight with the kids, not have to worry about booking in somewhere and then go again. So that's just the capability of a power system.

SPEAKER_04 13:11

And you're sort of referring to bigger vans in a different, essentially different category.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

It's the additions uh MDC have done with the series two versus the series one, those little bit of extras where if you aren't looking hard, you won't notice because it's a seamless update. But if you know what you're looking for, you know what you're talking about, you're pleasantly surprised that they are there instead of having to ask for, I want this to go with it. It's now a case of if someone asks, like, why you've got all this here anyway. Okay, I didn't know that. That's that's the the progression that I'm seeing, particularly with this series.

SPEAKER_04 13:43

One of the things I noticed about the for the series one, and it wasn't until we saw it in the series two that I just I recognized like the ability to upgrade solar, right? To uh somewhat I wouldn't call myself uneducated, but without understanding the complexity of power management systems and solar loads and things on batteries, the ability to have expandable solar. So I've got what 300 odd watts on the roof of the series ones. We've now upgraded the solar, but we now have the ability to expand that solar by up to six another 600 watts. Correct, yeah. In simple terms, I go, well, why couldn't you do that anyway? But the system wasn't the electrical system, may not have been designed to handle that kind of load, and you don't need it if you plug it into a 300. But that's sort of a frustration. I'd look back and go, Oh, yeah, that would have been a nice thing to have. And you might not realize that till you're on the road. So it's a good recommendation or good um reflection to add some of those improvements into place as well.

SPEAKER_03 14:38

Agree. And I think so. The one of the key focal points for the SR Series 2 project, and notwithstanding these things take a fair time to come to market. We've been working on this project for well over 12 months. The focal point for us was electrical capability. And typically people think about electrical and off-grid capability tied to off-road, but we've kind of reimagined that and gone, well, no, touring vans can absolutely be uh very capable off-grid. And that's what we've done. So upgraded every facet of that electrical system, the more solar, more battery capacity, more charging capability. And one of the key reasons we've got Shane here is the IntelliRV Gen 3 electrical system that we've implemented across the new Ford SR Series 2 models, coupled with the seven-inch display that we run, which seamlessly connects all these things together. You've got so much visibility, the user experience and understanding what you're actually looking at there is you know unrivaled in industry in terms of what that delivers for us.

SPEAKER_04 15:41

I'll come to Shane in a second about that. But one of the points you made just then was something we have talked about off-grid versus off-road. So we've built these on-road caravans with the ability to operate off-grid for a you know, not as much as an off-road caravan per se, but they now have that capability. We're talking earlier about offline, we're talking about it saying an off road an off-grid caravan doesn't have to be an off-road caravan. We've now brought that discussion into play and gone, these can be off-grid for a couple of days. They can be this, but it doesn't mean you have to take it off-road, you don't have to have mud ties, you don't have to have a DO35 hitch, you don't have to pay for all the bells and whistles. If you're going to be a night or two, it's actually a really nice solution. And you're not investing a huge amount for where you might otherwise have an off-road van that is capable of lasting a week or whatever it is. Yeah. So that's something that I've kind of really noticed with it too. Um, Shane, do you want to just talk a little bit about that IntelliRV, the Gen 3 system, and I guess how that's evolved to where it is now?

SPEAKER_00 16:46

The Gen 3 system is actually now known as the IntelliGrid system, not IntelliRV anymore. Because it does have the it's good, we've just launched a whole new range, so thanks for that much. That was a recent development where they've tried to bring everything into line. So they've called it the IntelliGrid, but it is Intelli RV and the progression of Intelli RV. Um so your Series 1 and Series 2, they were your basic systems, 30 amp charge, R via AC, 30 amp solar with your option of PWM and MPPT, but with the standard voltage sensing relay, which is no good for lithium. So they're they were great for on-road vans where primarily at the time AGMs were still the highest selling battery in these on-road vans. And it worked perfectly for that. But over the years of the first release with the progression and pricing on lithium batteries and so on, obviously we've had to meet market needs. And in doing that, we've now reached our Gen 3, which in the system in the SR2, we've got 60 amps worth of AC charging, 45 amps worth of DCDC charging, and 45 amps worth of solar charging. And this goes back to what you were saying with 525 watts worth of solar on the roof, but you add another 600 watts through folding blankets and so on. The general rule of thumb is you want double the amount of solar for your battery capacity. In this instance, the 45 amp regulator can handle a thousand watts input all the time. You have tripled your battery capacity with your solar. So if you get a bit like what we are up here in Queensland, beautiful sunny weather, with what you were saying before of maybe two days off grid with these systems, you can run three, four, maybe five if you are conservative with your use. So combining that all into a one system with a seven-inch disgray, which tells you what your solar is, what are you producing, it tells you what your DC charge is, what have you yielded while driving, it tells you what your cumulative output loads are. So at the touch of a button and go, right, I've used 100 amp hour today, I need to watch what I'm using. I can touch a button and go, I've charged at 100 amp hours via solar today. I'm happy for the next three days. But the screen is it's elegant in its simplicity. Where older generations can understand it easily with just by looking at it. People of my age, mid-40s, it gives me that little bit of extra data where I can go, okay, now I can monitor what I'm doing. The tech nodes like one. Yeah. And then you've got the younger generation coming through where they send their hand buried in the phone like this, it gives them everything that they want. So it covers all three ranges of potential new buyers, current buyers, and the older generation that just goes, I want it to work. I don't care about it. Exactly, exactly. And the benefit with working with a company like MDC is if there is something that your customers come up with that we haven't thought of, depending on what it is, we can then push out software updates through the systems via the apps. So if a customer says, My solar, I don't think it's performing as it should, okay, give us the information. Is there something that we have missed? If it's something that we have missed, we push out a software update, but this now benefits every single person that's bought a caravan. So with that sort of feedback from companies such as MDC plus our engineers down in Melbourne constantly working on these things, we know we've got a product where if someone buys one of these SR2s, they're not going to be upgrading in 12 months' time because something new's coming out. In 12 months' time, they might be adding to it because it now all becomes an ecosystem where you just build on it instead of ripping it out and replacing it.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

James, what does that ultimately mean for someone who wants to pick up one of these vans and take it away?

SPEAKER_03 20:27

Yeah, I guess it gives more options to our customers as to where they want to head, the length at which they will head there, and I guess less stress around having to micromanage those uh day-to-day power consumptions from a from an electrical perspective. So um by giving that additional flexibility, the the portable solar to be able to plug that in as well really allows our customers to escape more uh without having to worry about the headaches of it. And coupled with obviously the user experience of the seven-inch projector display, it's dead simple.

SPEAKER_04 21:02

So, how did that how did the decision to really adopt that Gen 3 system, is that was it ultimately about the user experience, the new technology? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Yeah, so we we've been working with Projector for um over 15 years and had a relationship, very good relationship for many years. Obviously, started in the camper trailers, and we've all evolved together. Um, as it comes to the series twos and what we were considering for that, the electrical capability was one of the focal points for the project. We certainly looked at all options as every company will do, but naturally, projectors uh and telegrid uh system was a no brainer for us because of the capability and the user friendliness of it. It's arguably the best in the industry right now. The reason why I guess the Gen 3 aligned so well for us was the system itself now has that additional charging compared to the previous versions. And because we were looking to put in the 300. Amp lithium battery, more solar. We wanted to make sure that the ecosystem that we were building together with Projector was very well matched together. And I think we really have achieved that.

SPEAKER_04 22:10

So how how much of it was a two-way development from Projector's point of view with sort of MDC feedback and how you guys then make decisions around product development?

SPEAKER_00 22:21

We take feedback from every avenue, but primarily speaking, because MDC are one of the first to adopt these things, if it's something that we see value for the rest of the market, 100% we'll adopt it, modify it, and make it work for.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

For sure. I think as it pertains to MDC though, and like how did we work together on the project with the Gen 3, that starts all the way at the beginning. I mean, we we had a handful of pre-production projector systems that we were checking viability, seeing how it would match with what we were doing, countless wiring diagram uh versions back and forth around system integration for us, engineers both at our offshore manufacturing facility, working through every single detail together on that on the production line with the prototypes through to Shane, looking through our prototypes on the Australia side, going through it. I mean, it's a very rigorous process for us to get where we do. I talk about this all the time. We don't just go and flick through a brochure or look at a shopping list and go, oh yeah, that that system looks kind of cool. We might just whack that in. It's far from that. It's it's the focal point, essentially the heart and the brains of a caravan is these days around your electrical system.

SPEAKER_04 23:34

So from the development of that and knowing what we need, what does that look like in the development process from your perspective? We develop what we need, then take it to projector, or do we look at the range of things that we have and we always start with what's the best consumer outcome?

SPEAKER_03 23:52

What are the customers going to want, not just today, but in 12 months, in 24 months time? Uh, where's there an opportunity that we can have a product that is going to be innovative and different to everyone else? Then we work with the model development team, the sales teams, get that feedback. So we start right at right at the I guess at the end and go, what are we trying to achieve? What do we want the product to look like? Exactly. Yeah, and that goes not just to the electrical system, that's every facet. Like this, the SR Series 2 update is a complete engineering overhaul of every facet's inside and out. But yes, start with the end goal in mind, work backwards, and then work with our suppliers as to what's the best fit for what we're trying to achieve here. And it's no different with the likes of Demetic, Fetford, NCE, all the other suppliers that we've worked on here. It's not just send us the parts, we'll figure it out. It's a genuine collaboration across the board, and that's where I think these things come together so nicely.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

It is, it is, as James said, like we start from the sorry, you start from the back end. So you start from the end consumer and you work your way back. There is a folder in my laptop called Dumb IDs for James.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

It's it's uh about five. I I think we did send like gravity suspension, like hover caravans to him once. It was on April Fool's mate.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Just imagine James going, no. Um, but it it just highlights like just the innovation and the ability for us to pivot and make it better for the for the customers, and that does start in in a roundabout way. It starts with customer feedback coming back through the sales team, sales team back through that model development team, model development team back through to through to James and his team. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:37

Talked about, I think the tagline here is escape with more. And it's about James, do you want to sort of allude to that? I think it's more as standard, right? Like MDC's big proposition is that it's a turnkey solution. You turn up, we've designed a product that has everything you're going to need, and just all in one box ready to go. Makes it easy. What does that mean for the actual, I guess, the day-to-day customer that's turning up?

SPEAKER_03 26:06

So, yeah, escape more with MDC was the the tagline that we'd we'd implemented with the initial series one launch, and I think it's even more relevant in the series two and what we've we've done there. So we've talked about it before, more capability, more luxury, more innovative floor plans. So we listened to the feedback, and within the the range of seven SR Series 2s we've got, which ranges from 11 feet to 22-foot layouts. We have optimised every single layout as well as reviewing the current layouts and implementing essentially two new layouts in an SR19 rear door, which that was through customer feedback and sales team feedback, as well as for the first time running an SR20 family, which is a triple bunk. That's huge, which can be used as a six berth too. So when we're talking about escape with more, we're taking on that feedback and we are increasing the capability, maximising floor plans, improving luxury and experience for our customers. And specification. We've talked about solar and all those things as well.

SPEAKER_04 27:10

Sure. Are there some key inclusions that really sort of stand out or that have been fundamental to the development?

SPEAKER_03 27:16

Yeah, so uh Tucson stability control, which we've historically run on our off-road product, is now a standard inclusion on the Series 2 SRs, uh, which is a fantastic thing for customers, right?

SPEAKER_04 27:30

So to the to the uneducated, or yeah, what does stability control kind of do and look like and and how does it play a role?

SPEAKER_03 27:36

Yeah, sure. It essentially it gives you that peace of mind that when you're towing and you have a potential instability event, whether that's a truck coming past on the highway. Talking trailer sway, aren't we? Trailer sway, correct. You've got peace of mind knowing that you've got this system that can asymmetrically break, which means independently break left to right to help you regain control without having to have the ability to do it yourself. Uh, which I know that we did a a podcast, I think, recently with uh Kevin English from Tucson around the details of that. So I'm I'm sure the listeners can find out a little bit about it.

SPEAKER_04 28:10

Yeah, we'll stick we'll stick a link in the description below about that because that is really interesting. If you don't know the benefit or value of stability controllers, you've got the what the old sway controllers and the bars on the stability bus.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Yeah, is that what they call stability bus? Sway bars.

SPEAKER_04 28:24

Yeah, this this is the the reimagined 2026 version of those, which sway bars don't actually work with independent suspension either, though, Sam.

SPEAKER_02 28:32

If you've ever heard an off-road caravan come past and it sounds like the chassis gonna snap in half, that's the uh stability bars fighting against the independent suspension. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 28:42

Learn something new every day.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

I didn't know that. Put yourself in the consumer shoes. Obviously, you're already buying a caravan, so it might be your as we've discussed in previous podcasts, it might be your second or third largest purchase you're ever gonna make in your life. House, car, caravan, house, caravan, car. Um you've got to think about insurance. So for us, uh all insurers will actually lower your premium if you have electronic stability control in your caravan. Um, and it is it is a it's kind of like one of those off-the-cuff kind of hidden safety feature things where people people don't really think about stability control being a major component of a caravan. But I know the Tucsons in particular, they're just one of those things where you don't realise it's there until it needs to work.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

Yeah, and that's exactly what you want.

SPEAKER_04 29:31

Yeah, yeah. And I guess from a yeah, from an owner's perspective, uh having the confidence because they're look, they're big vans, right? 16 foot, we're looking at a 16 foot out here, like physically they're big, they're as big as the car. And when you get to the 19s and the 22s, it's nice to have a bit of reassurance that it's behind you. I've towed the 22 and it's a big van, but people are comfortable with it.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

I tend to forget how big the 22-foot caravan actually is. I was in the yard yesterday up at uh Archerfield and I walked past it and went, Oh, that's a big caravan.

SPEAKER_04 29:59

So essentially, what you're saying from a customer perspective, and I guess the insurance providers, they're they're setting that more as an expectation now rather than an optional upgrade or a feature or things like that. That's good. Wayne, bringing the customers into this, uh, what does that look like? You know, having standard, a one standard solution, no options, what does that mean from the customer experience? You spend a lot of time at shows. What are you dealing with when customers are looking for a new product?

SPEAKER_02 30:28

I I take great pleasure in in well, when I first started, we only had camper trailers and off-road caravans, and then obviously 2024 we brought in our on-road range as well. Um, I've always taken great pleasure in when someone comes in and they're talking about adding solar and adding batteries, and you know, but it's one of those things where, as James just touched on, like we are a one-stop shop, and it's one of those things where you don't need to add anything. So traditionally it was just uh in the off-road range, you know, chuck in a fridge, so your compressor fridge, so you know, your little full drive fridge, and put in your gas bottles, fill up your water tanks, and you can hit the road. It's even more simplistic in the on-road range. So put your gas bottles in the in the new lockable uh front gas box, fill up your water tanks and go. Um, it makes it easier for the customer, so they don't have to worry about um you know whether or not they've got enough solar capacity to go off-grid or to to go camping. Don't need to worry about whether or not they've got enough battery to run their inbuilt fridges in their vans, and yeah. It's just one of those things where it makes it easier for the customer and the end consumer to go, I've bought an MDC, all I need to do is make sure it's paid for, rock off my handover, grab some gas bottles and hit the road.

SPEAKER_04 31:49

Yeah. Talking about like feedback and thinking about the layouts and designs and livability of some of these, Wayne. I guess how much of what we're seeing in this new range has been driven by that customer feedback?

SPEAKER_02 32:03

A lot of it, a lot of it. So we'll start with the uh SR19. So that rear door that came about out of uh well, it was it was out of can the customers asking for it in our XT range as well. Um why is the rear door layout different to a sort of central door? It comes comes back to that uh for for for a customer, it's you're not walking into your bed. And that's one of the big big feedbacks that we got was you're not walking straight into the door, into your bed. You're walking into the door, walking through, not into the door, you're walking through the door, you've got your ensuite on your right, straight into your your fridge and your kitchen, your lounge area essentially. More a living area, your living area, sleeping area. Think think of the SR22, like you walk into your lounge room, it's it's more your house than it is a caravan. So you've got your your lounge room, your kitchen, your bathroom, ensuite, and then into your bedroom at the other end. And that's essentially what we've done with their SR19. It just doesn't have that true segregation between bedroom and and lounge room because it is a caravan. So yeah, that's something that a lot of people forget. And you know, if it was up to the customer, they would take more than the kitchen sink with them because every everyone wants everything in a small package, and it's one of those ones where you know, even with our little 11-foot range, people want more. Like, why doesn't it have a kitchen inside? Where are we gonna put it? Yeah, it just doesn't exist. Some things have limitations, and then we come back to the and I think I've been chasing one for James for quite a long time now, and it's that's the face that I get every time.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

It's the shut up, Wayne.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

The uh the SR20, the SR20 uh in in particular, so the new family triple bunk. So you walk in, you've got a full-size bed, you've got a kitchen, big large seating area, you've got a separate shower and toilet, you've got a full-size ensuite in that with a washing machine and three full-size bunks. Like it is one of those vents where people are going to walk into it and go, I want it. So if you want to order one, reach out to my team and we can get one really quickly.

SPEAKER_04 34:10

They're a very neat little option, yeah. Oh, I see. And the fly screens on each of the banks are really cool too.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

So you've got fly screens on each of the bunks, and we we drifted away from and again from customer feedback. So we've gone away from the the curtain on the door, it's a pull-down blind, much like the blinds on the windows. Um, even down to like I know we're we're kind of jump ahead a little bit here, Sam, but even down to the new finish, like I don't know, it touched on the the sage green. That is the correct colour palette, James. Perfect. Yes, the sage green on the on the cabinetry, and it's a matte finish, and it it just feels different. It's not that tacky gloss kind of touch to it. It's not a matte matte where you know you're scraping it like sandpaper, it's a soft touch matte finish on the sage green, even down to the new finish on the couches.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

Like the thing I noticed when we're playing with it, there's no fingerprints, like that's uh it just keeps it looking cleaner. I I went through a grub like me, that's good.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

The prototypes that we took over the showroom, sorry, the models that we took over the showroom the other day. Um, and I went through them with the finance team, and yeah, Candace was absolutely just amazed. She's like, There's not going to be any fingerprints on vans anymore, and I'm like, this is amazing. That's the mum approach, yeah. The mum approach, yeah. She's like, I can bring my kids here.

unknown 35:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:22

How important is layer in in caravan selection for customers as opposed to just raw specs? Like you can have this thing, you can have something spec to the hill, but what does it mean? How is it a 50-50?

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Is it a I've been doing this for a little bit now? Um, and honestly, it is for the for the tech heads like me. I don't really care what a caravan will look like. Don't get me wrong, the MDC designs are absolutely amazing, but I don't internal and externally, I don't really care what they look like. But the the specs and features are what appeal to me. So obviously, power systems, gas, you know, diesel heaters, solar, you know, all that, all that kind of off-grid capability, functionality. Um, it's more the people that want more storage and stuff, they're the ones that are going to look at the you know the functionality of the the cupboard space and you know whether or not yeah, so put stuff in and out. And I like my wife, like she walked into that SR 16 the other day and went, there's a new upright cupboard. It's it's absolutely amazing. Like, and it's it's that that taller, slim storage space that we've we've made more appealing for everybody. So yeah, great.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

So yeah, and I agree, like that you touched on the storage stuff before, that's so critically important, but meaningful storage areas that we've really taken into consideration with every floor plan that we've redeveloped. We haven't just grabbed the series one floor plans, and the series one floor plans are fantastic, don't get me wrong. And change the colour. We have looked at every single model and overhauled and optimised the floor plan wherever we can to, as you said, uh Wayne, adding the floor to ceiling uh pantries in there, which are very, very good for the customers. Um to now that we're using the the projector system, we don't need to have the control panel above the fridge anymore in a number of the layouts. That I've covered space and overhead cover space, which we've gone one further, and we've done a adjustable pin uh shelf in there. That way, then the customer can take it out if they want. They can adjust the height if they've got something specific they want to store up there. But they're the kind of that's the level at which we've gone to for attention to detail to address these things, the curtains on the on the entry door going to a blind. Uh, we've put in through Wallport as standard on the offside, so that the customer, if they've got something they want to put through, whatever that may be, you're not clunkily trying to put it through the window, not able to shut it up. Not able to shut it properly, yeah. So which there's all those little things we're thinking about, uh, as well as adding in, which is another very key feature. And uh we we've partnered with NCE significantly in this update as well. We've got the NCE 23 litre flatbed microwave, so you don't have that plate rolling around. We've got the NCE 24-inch smart TV, which is Google ready as standard now in the range as well. So just all these little things that we've thought about that make that customer experience all that more meaningful. Yeah, fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

Even even down to like I took my guys through those ones that we were getting ready to uh ship off down to Rose Hill Show the other day, James. And running running the team through those units, um, and one of the first things that uh young Marley picked up on was there's no down lights anymore.

SPEAKER_03 38:35

That's another conscious thing where we've really tried to. It's the cost over where we took the lights out, right? No, no, you're saying there's no lights in the vans anymore? No lights, no more down lights. All the vans come down. No, but that that was a very strategic move to really clean up the aesthetic and streamline the aesthetic inside and really lift it, I guess. So what we've done instead is the whole perimeter around there's LED strip lights underneath the overheads on top of the overheads, and it really does lift that appearance inside.

SPEAKER_04 39:03

Changes the whole feel when you're in there too. Yeah, like the ambience and stuff, it's very different.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

They're they're all individually switched. You're not just one to turn on everything in the van, they're all individually switched in your van as well. Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_04 39:15

Yeah. Shane, this is probably for you. There's often a trade-off between advanced capability and then this ease of use, right? Have all the functions in the world, but how do you refine it? Um, how have you guys handled that? Is that primarily through the seven-inch touchscreen display? We talked about it earlier.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

It's it is primarily through the touch screen display. And that's that's what I was saying before. It's elegant in its simplicity. So the main display gives you everything that you need to see straight off the bat. But if you are a tech head like what Wayne is, who likes to touch buttons and see what happens, you can then go further into it and get the rest of the data out of it. So it's all very, very simple to control, very, very simple to get all the information that you need, but it's a complicated back end which you don't have to worry about. It's self-managed via the display and self-managed via the transformer itself. So it gives a a level of complexity that some of your much, much, much bigger systems that you're spending three times as much on, but you don't have to then worry about understanding that complexity. Like I need a display to see this, I need a display to see this, or pages of manual objects. Exactly, exactly. So your main page has everything that you need it to see. If you then want to dive a little bit, it's like on your smartphone. Swipe across or you tap an icon at the bottom. Literally, that is it. It's just very, very, I want to see if the caravan's level. If you've got that option, tap, it's level. Back to the home page. Everything is there that you need. And the app's almost a replication of that, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 40:46

It is an example. Or visually, so you're not then going, hold on, is it that format on the phone?

SPEAKER_00 40:50

It's an exact replication. So with the exception to it being horizontally wide on the display, you're vertically tall on your phone, but everything that's happening on the display, you see on your phone, and vice versa. So you turn on your water pump from your phone, you'll see the icon light up on the display. You want to see your again, additional level sensing. You tap it on the phone, all the icons on the bottom are exactly the same spot as what your display is. Okay, there it is.

SPEAKER_04 41:15

Navigation usability is obviously the key consideration part of that then.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

And uh again, I I look at it in this perspective. When you're on holidays and you're caravanning, you don't want to have to constantly think about what's going on. You want to be able to forget where your phone is, forget where you are half the time, because that's the idea. Unwind it, get away. You want to walk in, you want to go bang. Right, I got 60% left and I'm charging X amount soil, I'm sweet for the next three days. Let's go sit by the fire and have a beer. Yeah. That's what you want when holidays. And we we believe that the the work that's gone into this screen has allowed us to give that capability for customers. While maintaining that simplicity, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Definitely, 100%. So, Wayne, uh, when customers are using them, when using these new products, what do you think are going to be some of the standouts?

SPEAKER_02 42:06

Definitely, uh, we touched on it earlier, James, like the bigger fridges in them as as a standard now. So in your uh big hardware fans, you've got the bigger fridges as a standard? 200 litre. 200 litre.

SPEAKER_03 42:17

Monster. Uh dual hinges, which means you can actually access it from the left and the right.

SPEAKER_05 42:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:22

Which sounds, you know, not all that useful until you look at the layouts like the 22, where the fridge is somewhat central in the kitchen, and it makes actual a lot of sense to be able to access it both from the left side and the right side.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

Having a shower in the 16, reach around beer from the fruit. Shower beer. Shower, shower beer. Shower beer. Um, the the separate fridge freezer as well, too, James. So yeah, dedicated freezer. I know you know the whole concept about having your freezer inside your fridge, you know, it's it's really cool design, and I absolutely love it in like the my favourite van, the XT14E. Like you've got the added capability, but it is that, you know, imagine going out with your kids and you know, they just want to get an Icy pole rather than them standing there for 10 minutes with the door open going, can't reach the fridge, then you've got the freezer there. Um, you've obviously got the the dual uh gas uh electric hot water systems, uh, and then that little flatbed microwave, James. It's uh it is one of those things where customers the amount of customers that I've had that have broken the plate. No, so that little flatbed microwave um is going to be a game changer for them as well.

SPEAKER_03 43:30

So yeah, I I think a little bonus feature that you can't see until nighttime is the underbody lighting that we've added as standard across the range. And I think that will honestly be a game changer. So, yes, obviously pretty cool, but from a pure functionality perspective, I think it's going to be a game changer for customers. Like when we light that up at night time, it provides such a good ambient light around your campsite. You can see exactly where you're walking, but you don't have those side lights. On the van shining in your eyes. So they're standard across the range. They fit neatly under the nice little side skirts that we've put on as well. So I've Wayne's obviously seen the photos. I have.

SPEAKER_02 44:09

And don't do it. I didn't try and show the underbody lights at lunchtime. Because the team looks at you and goes very underwhelmed. What are you talking about, right?

SPEAKER_04 44:19

Yeah. James and Wayne, do you think this range sort of will change the expectation that people have in on-road caravans? I guess it's certainly at this price point, right? We sort of sit in this nice, nice mid-range offer as opposed to kind of the big high-end, you know.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

I think I think back over the years of the amount of times where I've had c customers come to me and go, I want this, I want more. Like, why don't you do customisation? And that that's a bit of a dirty word for me, especially from a sales perspective. Like customisation for me means that the consumer's going to be waiting for their caravan for longer. There's more that can go wrong, the customer can pull out because they've had you know life crisis as an example. But it's going to be one of those ones where it's that whole escape more and just that whole more as standard. So it is it is essentially that one-stop shop where a consumer can come in and look at any showroom or at a trade show or and they can go, right, that's what I want. And they know what they're getting from the get-go, and then they know exactly what they purchased is what they're picking up. There's no changes to weights, there's you know none of that that very, very grey zone of adding more battery and solar, which then you know they lose their payload, which I've got.

SPEAKER_04 45:32

The base the base model is two ton, but once you add in all your other bits and pieces, you're now at two and a half, and so your payload's halved.

SPEAKER_02 45:38

The amount of times over the years where I've been a little bit disheartened because I've lost a deal to to a uh a custom builder, um, to when the consumer, when the customer actually comes back and goes, Oh, they told me I could have all of this, but they didn't tell me my payload would be reduced to 200 kilos, which you know at the end of the day I end up with the customer back in the MDC fold, but it is that kind of unknown in the in the meantime.

SPEAKER_04 46:03

Yeah, I I can understand that, and it would be frustrating, I guess, from a customer's experience to sort of have this hope and dream go, that is a fantastic solution. But by the way, yeah, oh sorry, now we've compromised here. Yeah, and I guess is that less about, I guess, from the the series two range, is it less about adding features and more about adding that complete solution?

SPEAKER_03 46:24

Yeah. It's the on-road caravan segment in Australia is so incredibly crowded, it's very predictable. There's so many that do things very similar. Customers get very confused. I think what we've done is done it in such a way it's so clear to understand that value and what is standard that it's there's no doubt in my mind that it's going to be a game changer.

SPEAKER_04 46:48

What does that represent then? I I think you've probably summed it up. Does the the SR Series 2, I guess, really delivers value in that respect? It's making it the simple buying purchase, it's an affordable uh solution in that on-road space.

SPEAKER_03 47:05

That's okay. I was just gonna say I think to I think about, and I've been in the industry for a while now, but I think about that the amount of times you go to shows and you go and watch the consumers at lunchtime, and they're sitting there and they've got 50 profiles. Sitting there, and they're side-by-siding specifications on like vans, pricing, trying to navigate. Okay, so the base price was this, and then the options then I'm back at here and the confusion. When they will go and do that against the Ford SR series two, I very much doubt there'll be anything out there in comparable price back at bracket specification and quality that will be able to compete head to head with that range.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

Yeah, agreed, James. It's it is something I know, you know. We we released our AC plus range and our Ford SR range in 2024. We did it the opposite way around. So we did our uh Mark IIIs at the start of the year, and then by June we had our SRs on the on the uh stands and in showrooms. It's and if you were to look at our SR range as opposed to our Mark III, so our AC pluses, they're underwhelming. Like if you were to put them side by side, they they don't match up to each other. But it is that trade-off between obviously weight and usability. You know, we released the SRs to be more accessible, you know, lower tow capacity cars, people that wanted that same great look, build quality, and feel of an MDC, but they didn't have the the budget of the bigger units. And I think that's where the the SR2 Series 2, sorry, the SR Series 2s are gonna change that game again in in that you are gonna take away that noise of I've got an on-road caravan, it's a 16 foot, but it only comes with a hundred amp of battery and it's got a 15 amp charger and it's only got 200 amp of uh 200 amp, uh 200 watt of solar on the roof, and it's gonna be one of those ones where it's gonna be yeah, game changing once again. I agree.

SPEAKER_04 49:02

Like from what I've seen, we've been really hands-on with them. We've been really fortunate to have the models on the ground at launch to be able to touch, feel, look, and demonstrate them and produce content that is going to educate people. So when they turn up at Rose Hill in a couple of weeks' time, you're gonna have people knocking on the door say, I already know.

SPEAKER_02 49:20

I'm so excited. And you know, I'm I'm fortunate enough to be well one part of that model development group. Um, but also I'm I am on the coal face. So I am there when consumers get to touch them for the first time, and whether that be the the series one launched two years ago, uh, or the or the series two launch in the 28th of April. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 49:43

If you're going to be in Sydney on the 28th of April, poke your head into the uh Rose Hill show, Dan. Yeah, Rose Hill Super Show. Yeah, out at Parramatta, and uh you'll get to see them first hand. You'll be the first people around to see them. And if you're lucky enough to be in Brisbane, they're actually at our there's a couple at our Archerfield showroom too. So poke your head in, and there's more models coming. The the big the big girls are coming soon as well. We got the smaller models in first, and the 19, the 20, and the 22 are hot on their heels.

SPEAKER_03 50:13

Yeah, and then obviously availability in showrooms is not far off either.

SPEAKER_04 50:16

That's right. So the floodgates are open. Can't wait to see them in all the locations. Yes. So look, we do have eight showrooms. We've actually just launched our Townsville showroom as well. The grand opening was on the weekend, so we're certainly increasing our footprint. Perth's always there. We've got Adelaide, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Kabulcha, um, coastal caravans down in Tasmania as well. So there won't be a place that you can't come and check out the new Series 2 range of on-road caravans. So there's no excuses. Come and check them out, come and touch them, feel them. Try and leave your fingerprints on them. We don't care. Good luck to you.

SPEAKER_00 50:50

Wayne's the one who's cleaning it anyway.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

So individually go around and mark where the fingerprints are.

SPEAKER_04 50:56

Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's been really interesting, guys. I'm excited. I think the whole business is really excited. These are quite a revolutionary little um evolution in our range. So well done, James, to your team for developing it, working on it. Thanks, Wayne. I'm sure the customers will be happy that you guys have listened and shared that feedback, and definitely will be going to see what they've they've been asking for. And thanks, Shane, for your participation, collaboration with the business. I think it's it's testament to how well we work with you guys and why we continue to use projector products in our range.

SPEAKER_00 51:27

And it's always a good time working with you guys. Whilst we shouldn't be having fun while working, we always do. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 51:35

So it wouldn't be a job then, would it? So you've got to have some fun.

SPEAKER_00 51:37

That's it.

SPEAKER_04 51:38

Well look. Thanks for joining us. And thanks everybody for watching. We hope you've enjoyed this episode. I hope this gives you a little bit of an insight into the new range of the Fort SR Series 2 caravans. Check them out in showrooms, check them out at the Rose Hill Super Show, late April, early May, and uh get your hands on them, come check them out. Thanks for joining us. Please like, please subscribe, and we'll see you on the next episode.