I agree absolutely. I recently watched a Youtube video review of a common caravan at the NEC October show. The caravan price was £23,000 and obviously included the bodywork, chassis, wheels and brakes and electrics. And VAT. It had all the innards that you would expect in a 6mtr motorhome or campervan. I may be wrong but let me assume the caravan innards cost for example £12k. Furniture, bedding, gas combi boiler, lights, plumbing, cooker, washroom, kitchen. I then priced up buying a brand new Fiat Ducato high roof long wheelbase (not 6mtr) van and it was £42k (A swb low roof is £31k) including all the taxes and the taxes on the taxes. (A vehicle has VAT on top of the car tax. In other words the car tax is taxed). I am going to be rash and assume that the construction costs of the furniture - cupboards, tables, chairs, kitchen units would be the same for a van and a caravan. The caravan already has its body included in the £23,000 and so does the panel van in its £42,000 so there can't be any costs associated with the bodywork. The only difference really is that the panel van has to be insulated. They both have to be wired up with mains and 12v, they both have leisure batteries and the associated wiring, they both have hot and cold water, a kitchen sink and a toilet. So how does £23,000 plus £42,000 suddenly become an £80,000 panel van conversion? Specially when the major converters wouldn't be paying anything like retail for the vans. I once was manufacturing a product for Rover cars. I asked if I could buy the 'Brochure car' - the one with seven coats of hand finished paint and all the accessories. They said it will be crushed. "If we were to sell it to you we would have to register it as a car, and pay VAT on it. We can make another car for less than the VAT". That tells you what it costs them to make a car. Less than the VAT they would have to pay.
