Latest / Off Grid Down Under by MDC / EP 49 | Why an Aussie Caravan Brand Went All-In on America

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EP 49 | Why an Aussie Caravan Brand Went All-In on America · Off Grid Down Under by MDC

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Who is this company from Australia?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_03: In the US, that's pretty much entry level 22 foot.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_03: The the US customer always wants something larger.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: And how we've developed it for the US market's very different to Australia.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: We get all of the insights and the knowledge and experience from our US customers.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Here's something you might not know.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Since 2021, MDC has had an American arm, MDC USA.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: And the Americans do do things a bit differently.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: They want big big trucks, big rigs, big comfort, but more and more they also want what we've always built MDC around: the freedom to get out properly off the beaten track and live remotely.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: So how does an Aussie off-road caravan company give Americans what they want without losing what makes it an MDC?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: The answer is the brand new XT22 HRT Off-Grid Extreme.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's the biggest MDC travel trailer ever built for the US.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's got three separate living zones: dual zone heating and cooling, serious off-grid power, and an outdoor entertainment hub for the tailgators.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're going to get right back to the start of the American journey and finishing with the XT22.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: I've got three blokes at the table with me who have absolutely lived it.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Founder and owner of MDC and the man that took MDC to America, Vaughan Hindley.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having us, Steve.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: And you can r refer to me as the president of MDC USA to legit.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: El Presidente.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: Legit, I'm the president.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Does that mean we have to get him a new hairstyle and some orange skin?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Some fake tears.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Our general manager of Commercial and Product.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: James Field, who knows all things caravanning.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the man who looks after our dealer network and spearheads MDC into the US, Richie Fort.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome everybody.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Great to be here.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Steve.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: So bit of an exciting podcast.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Fort plenty of Australian businesses talk about cracking the American market.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Not many ship product over there successfully and often disappear.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: But we've set up shop.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: We've gone full into the American market.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: So why?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: And how?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: How?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us the bones about it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: Why?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: So for anyone not familiar with MDC, um, we have an exclusive one-to-one relationship with our uh factory in China, and we've grown up together over time, and you'd probably see more about that um relationship in in uh in other podcasts that we've done.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: But um it's the northern southern southern hemisphere thing is the main reason, and it's uh continuation of production.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: So, for instance, when it's summer here, it's our peak period, it's winter in the US, and that's their low time, and then vice versa.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: And so what we look for is when it comes to production, is actually keeping the same production all year round.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, consistent numbers makes it easier for us as a business to purchase parts from our suppliers, but also um if we can even out that seasonality, it's actually good for our supplier um in China because they don't have to uh ramp up or down, they just want a consistent business over time.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: So that was the primary reason.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh another reason is the US sells more RVs than any other country in the world.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then from a financial perspective, Richie um could could explain more, but when it comes to currency and fluctuations, um it sort of evens out that as well from a financial perspective.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: So uh when uh undertaking this venture into the US, what did you think the American consumers wanted and what did we get wrong?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh very interesting.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um I guess the overlanding segment there has just started to get a bit bigger in the last five or six years.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um and maybe the uh Americans didn't know what they wanted.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um but uh Australia's always been big when it comes to off-road, off-grid, um which is overlanding in the US, and so I guess we had an inside line as to what the needs were.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: And you see large companies like TJM and ARB um have gone overseas and sort of set the the mandate for what overlanding is, and so we're sort of jumping on those coattails.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well I guess the overlanding's traditionally being a bunch of guys out in their jeeps, maybe the odd little trailer.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think one of the challenges we had at the start was that people love the product, but where would I take it?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas in Australia everyone knows where you would go.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Go to the Outback, go to the Gulf, go to the Tip, go to Tasmania or whatever.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: But in America it's like I reckon it's great, but I don't know where to go.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it was as well as educating people on the product, educating people on where potentially they could take it on trips.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: I guess it was a lot of that when uh when we had it over to the States and did a bit of a tour around and we did uh the slot canyon through Anza Barraga and all that sort of stuff and found ourselves going amazing places with caravans in tow.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And as you know, when you pull up at a gas station, you've got a van behind the truck.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: People want to know what it is.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone everyone was very interested.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of questions, especially if you're up at a campsite, there's other people around.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_03: I think so you asked Vaughan before about the, you know, the why.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember speaking to both Richie and Vaughan about this many years ago.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um that one of the key reasons why for us as a business as well is the fact that we knew there was an opportunity for us in the US market to have a genuine off-road capable trailer that um the US market, even you know, to this day to a point, some of the product over there, even though it is very heavily marketed as overlanding for overlanding, uh, you would never be able to take it to the places that you can an MDC USA uh travel trailer.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: So the whole wire side of things, we're very good at at designing and and manufacturing, building off-road caravans and and uh travel trailers.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: And um the opportunity there for us is to obviously take that to the US.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_03: We've had, I remember, looking at our our socials before I guess we did the US stuff, and we would have people from America looking at our staff, starting to follow us, asking, can I take this to the US?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: So there was certainly a bit of a drive there as well.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: You also asked another question around, you know, what have we learnt over the journey?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_03: And in the near six years I've been with the business and heavily involved in the US evolution.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Anyone trying to take an Australian product, let's call it flip the floor plan, i.e., put the door on the correct side for the US and plonk it in the US is absolutely kidding themselves.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: It's just not, doesn't work like that.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we've learned that over the what is it, five or six years that we've been active in that market now, there are so many anomalies and differences in customer expectation, whether that's spec, look and feel, uh, what they're after when they travel, it's not as easy as just going, well, we know how it works in Australia, so we're just gonna plonk our product and see how we go.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's with our Wolfgrid Extreme range, which I think we're gonna talk about a little bit today.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: That, in my opinion, and I'm sure you guys would agree, hands down, our best iteration yet of a genuine US style spec fit and finish uh unit within our range.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's the evolution of the brand.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, having camped in an off-grid extreme, yeah, super impressive.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was in love with it.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was exactly what we needed for where we went, and I was so comfortable.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: And it took us th five years of having product in the market and developing, and Vaughan to his credit, going on so many overlanding trips.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yourself, Steve, you've been there, Richie's been there.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: Like we've all gone and we've understood the market, the customer, the shows, the competitors, the product usage, and all of that is absolutely critical to where we've got the product today.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've listened to people and heard what they've got to say, worked out what works, what doesn't work, and changed our strategy along the way.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we've got a really good product in the US market now.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Agree.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's exciting.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: This one for uh Rich, you, Richie, and Vaughan.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, back in the day we set up a first production in LA there, and then opened up branches California, Arizona, uh, Utah, Colorado.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: What were those first couple of years like trying to manage all that?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: I guess remotely it's always a challenge.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got to rely on having good people on the ground.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And we've had some good people in business over the over there over the years, and certainly got some even better people there now, and that makes a big difference.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the quality of the product is number one, and that's something MDC you know stands for is quality.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And when you've got a quality product, basically what we do here in Australia, we now do do in the S US.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't need to do anything different.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a bit like rinse and repeat to some degree, and we were able to help the team in the US and here from Australia.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And during that time we've also had COVID.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So people over there, the business had to stand on its own two feet.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think uh the business we've got today is proof that during that period of time people were able to lead the business the way we wanted to.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's exciting to see how things have evolved.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: J just on that with uh the customer base over there, like I see everything on social media and the feedback and all the rest of it.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And the the uh contrast I see uh in how the Americans view the MDC product, they're looking at the MDC product and going, oh my God, I've never seen anything this good.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: This is the best of this I've ever seen.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it is consistently the feedback.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess that's m more about how Americans have traditionally done their RVs, because I think we commented on some of the stuff we saw, and Shane even said that they're almost disposable, yeah.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the stuff that they build over there.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: People buy a US built product on the expectation that within five years' time they'll have to replace it.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Send it off to the tip or let the dog sleep in it.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that has been the thing that because I I'm used to Australians' expectations are obviously different.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: But um yeah, I was really taken aback by just how strong that feeling was amongst the American consumers.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: The product certainly stands out in the US, and I think that's a driven a lot by the fact that we don't build in Elcart, Indiana, and Elkhart, Indiana is like the Campbellfield Victoria of of the US, and um the majority of the manufacturers are building there, and they all build very similar to each other.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: They all have the same look and feel, they're they're very similar supply chains.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: So by by default, those products end up looking very similar, have similar capability, and they're built to a price point.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: And right or wrong, they sell a lot of products and they look, you know, they look good, they look great.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: The value proposition is good for the customer, they see the the sale price and and go for it.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: But what's behind the scenes under the skin, and when you look at capability is chalk and cheese.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_03: So that's I think that's why our our product looks uh so different to to um to the I guess the more US style made product.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Fawn you in 2023 you went to your first dealer open house in Elkhart, which is the heartland of the American RV industry.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like turning up with an Aussie caravan and trying to build some credibility and garner interest in the product in that market?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, it was I guess there was a lot of um excitement about having a new product there, and so it did draw a lot of people, but also skepticism around um, you know, who is this company from Australia and what's their history, and you know, they didn't really know much about us, but it was a different looking product, and so um it certainly took a a lot of time and aligning ourselves with the with the right dealers to um get the credibility in the market, so it certainly was a slow burn right at the start.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not always easy to get into a new market, and James, that same year we were on the floor of SEMA in what was it, Las Vegas with XT1617.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about what it was like sitting with Vans at SEMA because that is the big the biggest of big, isn't it?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: It was a bucket list thing for me.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: I've always wanted to go to SEMA's show and to go to SEMA show for to go to SEMA's show for the very first time and be an exhibitor and have product on display that we're so proud of was, you know, I guess a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity there and the feedback, the sheer volume of people on our stand, the the excitement around it and the I guess the mystery, because a lot of the stuff was new for a lot of people looking there.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of the things, so we had some mirrors and lighting underneath our van to show the trailing arm suspension and the amount of people that were crawling under the van to take a look at that because SEM is very much that automotive aftermarket hardcore off-road audience.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: So um that was a really good experience, not just to promote the product, obviously we're there for exposure, connect with potential partners and dealers, talk with potential new suppliers, but um it yeah, the PR around it alone was great.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: The other aspect of it was getting feedback directly from potential US customers and and their thoughts and the way they re reference stuff really helped us craft the way that we talked about our product, our marketed our product because there's so many Australianisms, let's call them, that we we just know what that's called in Australian or English, you know, what we we the Australian English.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh whereas, you know, some of the things that we were trying to market or talk about, they're like, what's that thing?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_03: So um there was a lot of that.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: But 2023 for us was I guess that the first year that we had a really hard push to develop our dealer network and find a really good range of of key players and dealers to come into the group and doing RV open house at at Elkart and then SEMA was absolutely key to that.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: That was the same year that the OzRV XL 154E won RV News Adventure Trailer of the Year.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's recognized recognized the product in America and it's not an Australian-based award.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: What was that like?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Was that a bit of a pivotal moment, do you think?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, we're still a very small fish in a very big pond in the US.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: So to be recognized in that kind of way as such a small player was very, very clear to us that we were making the right noises and had our product direction and the brand direction going the right way, and people could see what we were doing, and that was, I guess, a real um light bulb moment for all of us that we were on the right track.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I know you love an award, Vaughan.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: How was that for you?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like how does it change your perception?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mate, I was super excited.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I I guess it was the first time to get some sort of recognition um by a industry publication, which was important to us because that's what we really needed to push the brand forward.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was good work and early.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: I I think that's wonderful.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: So, and James, you were named RV Pros 40 under 40, alongside people from major US manufacturers.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: And now we know here in Australia everyone knows who you are, and and everyone that's a good thing.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, i in the best possible ways, of course.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: So how does that change how you you became involved in the industry at large over there?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um it's not really about me, I guess, at the end of the day.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: I think for us it was a good uh accolade for the business, the fact that we had that presence and credibility in the market as a brand to be seen to be in those uh in those groups and be viewed to have people in the business and brand care credibility to be alongside the likes of your J Cos and you know those iconic RV brands.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: So if anything, I think it really helped our business profile over there to have that credibility.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I think from memory, I would be, or I don't know if there's anyone else, but I don't live in America, so to have that as a brand, it is an Australian-based brand, to have that credibility in that space, I think is quite powerful for us.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I think it's important.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Vaughan, in 2024, uh we made the move, MDC made the move to a dealer-based network in America.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I I know that sort of goes against the historical grain here in Australia.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: What was behind that?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: What did you learn that made you decide to do that and the process of getting the dealers set up and yourself, Richie, being involved in there?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so initially we were a direct-to-consumer model, which is very similar to MDC in Australia.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: But in the US, um, because it's a new market and and it's a little bit they do things a little bit different to what we do.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we needed a sort of full understanding of how uh the US customer thinks, how they buy RVs, how they think about servicing.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so it made sense for us to align ourselves with dealers that particularly had sort of dabbled in the off-road area and their product available to them was not as robust as what we actually make, but it was forming those relationships and learning things and working together with all our dealers to actually um improve the product for the US market, particularly.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: That'd be great for product development for sure, because they're living it.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: How have you found that?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, 100%.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: What Vaughan says is right, listening to customers and dealers and uh adjusting our strategy and product accordingly.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: And they all seem to be very forthright in and willing to tell you what where it needs to go to achieve the next step, which makes life a lot easier.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the product has evolved because we have listened to customers and dealers.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: I think so, just off the back of what uh Richie and Vaughan said there in 2024, that pivot to the dealer model too.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_03: All all of us have been to the US several times, in particular in those earlier days.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I think what we all learnt is part of that, and we go and do competitor in Intel and all those things, and it was very clear to us that MDC, the brand and the product, needed to sit beside other product in broader dealerships to get an appreciation for the difference and the value of the product compared to what else was in the marketplace.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: So we didn't have that ability in our own showrooms because it was our product, it was a destination showroom.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: People would still come in, but then they would then go away and look at other product.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas being a part of uh a broader brand portfolio really helped our product stand out compared to the others.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that came apparent to uh I can't remember what year we did this.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_03: Vaughan might remember.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think for a 12-month period, we had a an activation with Bass Pro where we had uh one of our MDC products in a Bass Pro shop.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_03: And we would have it manned from time to time, and it was just a really good piece for us to understand.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_03: And that kind of then was the precursor of we really need to get our product in front of a broader audience.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: For anyone who hasn't or doesn't understand Bass Pro, it is a BCF anaconda on steroids ten times over.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: The size of a bunnings.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: With an upstream incredible.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like for me, it's hog heaven.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's got everything fishing, guns, adventure, you name it.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: You can buy a kayak, a canoe, you can buy a powerboat.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: A TV.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: A TVs, yeah.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh Yeah.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: If you get to the States first go to Bassbro.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Just don't not d go.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: So the R R V DA dealer convention in um Paris, Las Vegas, it was the first time uh the off-grid extremes uh was shown to the US dealers.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: So and the 19 HRT, of course, the hero of that.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Was that a moment that we knew that the off-grid extreme was going to be a bit of a hot item in the US?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think so, absolutely.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: The reaction?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: When you have um uh owners of competitor brands and you find them on your stand before starting or after finishing, uh taking videos of your product inside and out from a mainstream brand, that's pretty impressive.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Now you know you're sort of you're making some waves.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it was it was a really good moment for us.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: So there was so much time and effort that went into the development of the off-grid extreme range, and we'd taken so much feedback and evolved the product so dramatically from our previous iterations into the off-grid extreme.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: And we're all going to be confident, confident because we work internally on it, right?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: And we're all very in invested in it anyway.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: But then to have that unbiased feedback from dealers there was you know quite quite good for us.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: And so myself, Vaughan and Anya manned that stand throughout the show and had some great conversations, and it was a it was much around brand presence for us, and and we also very much like being involved with uh industry associations as well.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_03: I think we're all more powerful as one and being involved.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: So for us, we wanted to be aligned with the RVDA uh in that respect as well.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: But uh yeah, the feedback on the product was uh really, really good.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it would have been amazing.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, having seen it, but yeah, I need to get to one of those shows one day.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: So a bit of a round the table.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um now the language is very different, and I remember writing the first owner manuals for the American product.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I needed a lot of assistance with with the wording, and I spent a lot of time on Google to find out what they call things.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: Is it uh Tyre T Y R E or Tyre T Y R E?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: And is it tomato sauce or ketchup?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and keep going.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll say our word for something, and you got Vaughan, caravan, what do they call it?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Travel trailer.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Richie, camper trailer, what do they call it?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Pop-up camper.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: James, you, what do they call it?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: A pickup trailer.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: You can see what I mean.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's a different language almost.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Off-roading.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Overlanding, free camping.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, boondocking.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Boondocking.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: Boondocking.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: Or dispersed camping.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Dispersed camp.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Dispersed camping.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Dispersed camping.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's politically correct, I'd say.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a COVID thing.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: But heater.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: We use a heater.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's a heater.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_03: Furnace.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_03: They call it a furnace.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_03: So that one still to this day I just can't get my head around.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like I know what it is now, because we have to speak in these in these terms, but for me that's a struggle.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like everyone in Australia, when you go to the sink, you turn on the tap.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: But they call it force it over.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Force it, yeah.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: And oh, this one gave me nightmares changing all the info over gas.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: We have LP gas, and over there, it everything has to be propane.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: If you say LP gas, they look at you, what?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's yeah, PowerPoint.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_03: Our receptacle.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Receptacle.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: ESCI cooler.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting thing in the US, um 12-volt fridges over here, you wouldn't go out and buy an ESCI, right?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: In Australia.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: Still a big thing in the US.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like 12-volt fridges are still cutting edge.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: All new in America.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had them here for what?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you bought an angle, you probably bought it 20 oh 35, 40 years ago.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: People still running around with their angles in their car.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: But okay.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: But I guess it depends where you are up there too.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: If they're doing all their camping in winter, just throw it out the door into the snow if there's no bears.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Servo gas station.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, just on that, if you have a servo pie in America, does that mean you have a gas station pie?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: So good.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well if they have pies.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Mate, if I'm going to an American gas station, I'm getting the pizza.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Or the tacos or all the rest of the like the the smallest board of food, and that was a big culture shop for me.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I haven't even got to go to a Bucky's yet.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh big Bucky's.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, tell me about it.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Next level.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like can you really buy a canoe there?
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can just about buy everything, but there's 50 um gas pumps.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then inside it's just like a you know a mini mart, but on steroids.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: My God.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely want to get across and buy the t-shirt.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: They have merch yes.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and for those that haven't been to America, you think 50 gas pumps, they pay for their gas at the pump with your card before you pump it, unlike here in Australia, where you go in and pay, which uh Shane found out.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh kept having to apologize and pay for his gas when he drive off, forgetting to pay.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: Not not RV related, but um thong.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: There is a big difference there.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Flip-flops, right?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, flip-flops, yeah.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: And just to clarify, should be.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: And the big one, aluminium and aluminum.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Spelt the same.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: Like we even had to change a lot of our decals and stickers over on some of our vans to make sure we had the Americanized terminology for stuff.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_03: And it having said that, like we obviously have a very Australian view on this stuff.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_03: I guarantee you, all of our US partners and US customers watch some of our videos and walkthroughs and content and think, what on earth are these guys talking about?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: Because as Australians, we have a saying and a slang for absolutely everything.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_03: Everything, yeah.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some of the walk-around videos that I've made in the US with our dealers, they actually have to put subtitles so they interpret my English.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think that'll be the same.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: I I recently did one for one of our new models, and I tried to be conscious of making sure I used terminology that that made sense.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_03: But sometimes you just forget and you just say what it normally is to me, and uh and then I'd say it, and in my mind, I'm like, oh man, I shouldn't have said that.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think I look stressed in the videos I've made over there trying to make sure that I get the terminology's right.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's a another thing for me, and I don't think it's on our on our bingo card, but uh still to this day, Australia we're very metric, right?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: Everything is metric other than randomly kind of some random things in our R V LAN we still do in feet, like awnings.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but some of the terminology for units of measure of liquids or power like BTUs and foot pounds and uh cubic feet for a fridge, all that stuff to me, and gallons, like I can't I can't rationalise the size of it, or you know, um all of their weights and ratings are completely indifferent.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I've got to convert everything back to to metrics, so it makes sense to me.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's around four litres a gallon.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, that's all I remember.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: And and America will use anything but the metric system.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: They'll use chickens, whatever.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: Before they'll use millimetres and meters.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: So all jokes aside, what what's the hardest part about running a remote business on the other side of the ocean?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think with the way the internet is these days, um, and you know, during COVID teams meetings became a thing.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I guess it's created a lot more efficiency and you don't have to travel as much.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it's quite it's better to have meetings, and quite often because the US we wake up in the morning as the end of their day, we're actually doing our group meetings from our home offices or our lounge rooms.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I think too, like for us as a business, having Ritchie as a dedicated resource here in Australian head office that's sole responsibility alongside Gold Class is to manage the US business in our executive team makes a huge difference too.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like we've got someone in that position that has experience that we can trust.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's to your point where you're asking about, you know, what's the hardest part?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_03: Prior to that, prior to having Richie in that dedicated resource, it was kind of a shared responsibility across a number of our managers in the Australian head office, and that would be a challenge because we're all trying to juggle priorities and and we wanted to give um the US business the attention it deserved, but then having Richie then move into that dedicated US um manager role was fantastic for us because he takes absolute ownership over that day-to-day.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's easy with the time difference to become disjointed.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: You ask a question today, you get an answer tomorrow and then come back.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas if you're regularly talking to them pretty much every day, Vaughan, myself, or James, you can get things done in a systematic way quite quickly.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: But it does help to have good people on the ground, whether it's staff, dealers, or uh suppliers.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: For me, um Richie's an early riser, and so pretty much the work's done by the time I wake up.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: So as soon as I wake up, I'll look at my phone, look for a team's message.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh what's going on in the US?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: Is there anything I need to do?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um if there's nothing there, nothing for me to do for the rest of the day, pretty much.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: You do a pulse check.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good way to work.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: So one for you, Richie, over there, a travel trailer that can go where our product goes.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think the reaction or what the American customer sees when they look at our product for the first time?
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think they relate to the American LCART product and can't believe the quality.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: I know when I've been to shows and met customers they've gone to a stand next door with an American product there and they've led on the walls, and the walls just wobble.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: Our products robust, basically indestructible.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they find that hard to understand that there's a product like ours in the market.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that you can't put your fist in to go pretty much anywhere.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's quite it's really exciting.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, look, I have to agree because the reactions when we've been over there, especially when we're traveling, excuse me, in a small convoy and we all pull up, there is a lot of interest.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: And and yeah, the the reaction is obviously or when most people see it for the first time.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: So what are you looking for in a dealer partner and what makes the Aussie off-road product interesting to those dealers?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think as Vaughan mentioned, the dealers we have now do operate in the off-grid overlanding space already.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's definitely not a product for everyone if they're just sole American-built product.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it's a product that complements their own product.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we have good partners already, and we're also looking for people who can partner with us in areas of the market where we currently aren't based.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: And also if something does go wrong, they can fix the product.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: They do know they've seen similar products before.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: That makes a big difference.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: ROA off-road um is a dealer that I guess you guys have built a a pretty special relationship with.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us a bit about Shane and his family and how that relationship sort of progressed and and evolved since we first uh started him off as a dealer.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: I guess um ROA Off-Road is a uh they've only worked in off-grid overlanding product.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um so it's a very specific niche, and they were one of the pioneers uh of the uh overlanding in the US, and uh they leave it and breathe it.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, been on a lot of trips with those guys, um, which has helped us understand the product and how we've developed it for the US markets, very different to Australia.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And for those that haven't watched it, our our trip last year up to Cape York, uh Shane Staffer and his lovely wife and and daughter came along with us up to the Cape, and Shane and I towed a couple of MDC caravans up the teletrack because we really wanted uh Shane to see just what you could do to the product, and how good a trip was that?
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: It was pretty amazing, and um, I guess the terrain here in Australia is very different to the US, and so they come over here and go, hey, this is amazing, and you know, we've been brought up in this environment, so it's sort of we get desensitized of how great the Australian um terrain is, but when we go to the US, we get the same thing because we don't have the big snow capped mountains over here, and so that's new to us, so we get excited by what they have, and they get excited by what we have because for over here creek crossings in the US, you don't have creek crossings, so their vehicles don't have snorkels.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: If you're gonna go off-grid over here in Australia, you must have a snorkel on your vehicle.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: It was a big difference, and I remember our travel over there, we we saw everything in one trip from deserts, monument, valley, all the all those places where they they filmed so many westerns, and then all the way down to snow country, getting snowed in for a few days.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it is wild, but yeah, I think the river crossings were the things that that amazed Shane the most was that every I don't know, kilometre going through water up to the bonnet, it was a bit of a bit of a joy.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: So here we're mostly dealing with heat and dust.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: In the States, you can tow through a desert in the morning and hit the snow by the afternoon.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: So how's that changed how we've built caravans for the US, James?
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_03: Probably one of the the bigger learning curves for us as a business was around uh cold weather design.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_03: And it's still something that we're learning a lot about today.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_03: So things that we've never had to design or even consider before in any Australian uh model that we've developed were things that we've had to now look at and pay attention to.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_03: And and as I said, Steve, it's something we're still learning about today.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_03: So things like wet bays and uh you know tank heating, making sure the batteries that we use have inbuilt heating, things that that you know we don't even have to consider in those Australian products.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's the storage with winterising for winter storage and everything.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: So ever all the pipe work and anything with water in it isn't split when things thaw out.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so even our to our pipe routing in the off-crit extreme range, as much as we can is now up inside the van, which in an Australian product you always try and keep it under the van where you can.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: Even to uh I remember when we were doing the off-crit extreme product, because we're an Australian brand, we use cassette toilets.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_03: We also like those for off-grid uh and off-road use.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_03: And um when we did the off-crit extreme project, we had to find a cassette toilet that had its own dedicated holding tank so that the customer could fill the flush tank with uh anti-freeze.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: So that when you go to flush the toilet, it's not frozen.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_03: So all these little things that we've learnt over time.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: And a a lot of that um the things we've learnt have come from the customers and the dealers.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: In particular, some of the dealers have been very, very helpful.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, how much of that feedback's come back to the drawing board in our design?
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: All of it.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_03: In particular the off-grid extreme range.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_03: 100% owner forums on on social media is a huge one for us as well.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_03: Going and visiting shows ourselves and locations, our teams, yourself included, Steve Vaughan, going and physically using the product for many years over there yourselves.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_03: We've we painted a pretty good picture for ourselves for the off-grid extreme project.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, whether you're in Queensland, Utah, Columbia, what does an off-grid traveller fundamentally want in their van that's different between Australia and the US?
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_03: Good question.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think look, off-grid is off-grid.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um ultimately you want to be uh have the ability to stay away as much as possible.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think an off-grid Vaughn may be having a different view here, but a customer heading off-grid in Australia, I think from a usability perspective, is fairly similar to a customer using it in the US.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_03: Would you agree, Vaughan?
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: I would, just the uh weather considerations would be the only difference.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: So when are we gonna put heated solar panels on our American product?
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's a good question.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_03: I haven't uh I haven't looked too much into that one.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_03: Windscreen domesticers.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: We reckon we should do that.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: Put the snow off, yeah, and they can get solar.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_03: Or put those little um I don't know if you've seen for the the household, you can get the little uh the little racks with the sprayers that go and self-clean your your solar panels.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, anything's possible.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah wiper washers for the solar panels.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: So the XT19 has become one of the most popular models in the range over there.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um customers want more.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: How did that turn into the XT22?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: What does it do?
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: What's the 22 going to do different because it's designed for the American customer?
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_03: So we've had so much feedback from our customers over the years where the the US customer always wants something larger from a floor plan perspective, and up until this point, we've only had our 19.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_03: So developing the XT22 HRT for the first time, we've got a new floor plan.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_03: So it's basically three designated zones.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_03: You've got your private bedroom at the front, in the middle, you've got your centre uh shower and toilet and bathroom area, and at the back, a completely separate kitchen and living uh area.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_03: So for the first time we've been able to do that, and you can only achieve that kind of thing when you then push out the size.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_03: So we've obviously then upped our uh G VWR rating.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_03: So uh it is a heavier unit, but all the bells and whistles are certainly there.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's taken us to the next level.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of caravan or travel trailer.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_03: It is, and I mean we haven't even started speaking about the features yet.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_03: Like the floor plan itself is is fantastic, but some of the features that we've put in there it's is for the first time we've never done these things before in any of our US ranges.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Yeah, because a lot of the appliances uh are greatly different due to, I guess, uh compliance and all that sort of stuff over there.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: So they would would differ.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: What what is the biggest difference in how you approach it with appliances versus Australia?
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_03: I use this terminology before uh because it's something that comes up often around flipping the floor plan and sending it to the US, and it's so marr so far from that because as you touched on, Steve, the appliances are completely different from not just certification but product usage, but also what customer is expecting to see in that product.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: So you've got the appliance side, and then pretty much every rule is different when you come to regulatory requirements.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: So we're lucky enough to be RVIA uh affiliated, so um they help us with our NFPA 1192 certification, which is what you need for travel trailers in the US.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_03: But um, to your point, pretty much every rule in regulation is different.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_03: So uh you need to learn a lot before you go and do a US style uh travel trailer.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I can imagine.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: So Vaughn, you've said serious capability is only half the equation, and that you've got to be able to live properly when when you arrive.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now, how do you add that much space and comfort without losing what makes it an MDC when you head into like the 22-foot off-grid extreme type trailer?
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, look, I think we're adding a little bit more length, we're not actually adding any more width, so it'll get down similar tracks as the 19 foot.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_02: And as you know, in America, big is always better.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, there's an extra five-foot of room in this and makes a huge difference.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um and just the the dual zones, you know, it's something we haven't done in the US, and it's been very popular over here in Australia, and just having that separation um where people could go into the bedroom area and be separated from the lounge room area if you're entertaining there, someone wants to go to bed early.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it just makes it um a more comfortable off-grid experience.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're starting to get into the premium um type features there.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: And um you know, the twenty-two-foot vans is where it's at.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_02: In the US, that's pretty much entry-level twenty-two foot.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's true.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: So With uh I guess with the big entertainment side of of the twenty two with the entertainment hub, big T V, fusion stereo, fridge, all that sort of thing.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: How do you think that'll tie in with their lifestyle over there?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it'll be a real winner.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think like here people you know, sleep inside and like to do their living outside and having uh you know, fantastic entertainment hub in the caravan.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: Sit out under the awning and watch the game.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: Watch the yeah.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I've got a story I can talk to.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_02: I was actually over there um we just did a show with a dealer, and then we were going to go on a little trip, and there was a big football game on.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think this was after RVDA, and so we had a 50-inch TV on a stand on wheels that we'd actually used at the show to display some of our um overlanding uh footage that we had.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: We actually threw that in the back of our dealer's truck and reassembled it in front of my caravan to actually watch an NFL game.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so essentially with the 22, we've just attached that to the side of the bear so we don't have to have a separate 50-inch TV in the back of the truck anymore.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's really true, and uh, I mean, we've we've gone and designed it in a way that actually fit it fits seamlessly into the Bonnie envelope, so it's completely recessed in.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_03: All you've got to do is you undo the latches, the uh the door hinges up, then creates a bit of a cover for you.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_03: You've got lighting in there, and it's just all set up, ready to go straight away.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: You can have your beers in the fridge.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I think what's fantastic is I talked about it being a three-zone caravan.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_03: I guess ultimately this is a four-zone caravan.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_03: You've got the annex, was that what we call it?
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yannex in in the US.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yannex uh to then close off that outdoor area under the electric warning, or the patio warning, as I learned that terminology just recently.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, along with the external slide out kitchen, portable fridge slide as well, that entire area outside essentially becomes like a fourth living zone that you can do anything you want.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: So with with the spec on on the 22, it without going into the spec sheet, but we're we're talking big numbers of solar, power, water, a whole lot.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: What does that change what people can do with this caravan in the US?
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_03: So as I mentioned before, Steve, we've upped the G VWR significantly on this and added some additional length.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_03: So for us, we've added to uh been able to add more solar, so 1,400 watts of rooftop solar.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_03: You can then put in an additional 600 watts of portable solar if you were to do that on the offside with you know three 200 watt solar blankets or solar panels.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_03: So that's a massive amount of solar capacity that helps you charge up the 1,500 amps of lithium battery power that you've got on board as standard.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I guess another one too, because we've added more space, we've got uh 93 gallons of fresh water, which is significantly more water capacity than we've ever had before.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I guess all those factors they would be typically seen as your limiting factors when you go off grid.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_03: Steve, you've done plenty of this in your time.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's always comes down to that, right?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_03: Water, food, uh, and energy generation essentially your three key things you're looking at there.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we've addressed them in spades in the new 22-foot.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: It would having looked at the specs, yeah, it's way over the top.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: So really, there is a lot of MDC DNA, our Australian DNA, into the product we're now developing for the US.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_03: You're right.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_03: So um I think a couple of weeks ago we did a a podcast in in relation to our one of our premium Australian brands, gold class caravans, and within that brand portfolio, uh we had the AC-22C, which is a 22-foot, 4.5 tonne ATM flagship within that range, and that was very much the inspiration and the precursor for us in terms of the development of the XT22 HRT.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_03: Having said that, when we developed the gold class AC-22C, we very much had the American market in mind.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_03: So we developed that for, I guess, dual market uh applicability.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot been a lot of development and changes in how we've traditionally done things to cater to the American market.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_01: How much of that's come back to benefit the range we provide in Australia?
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_03: So much.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's so helpful for us, for our teams, both our US side teams and our Australian teams, where we essentially get the best of both worlds.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_03: We get all of the insights and the knowledge and experience from our US customers and that market, we might be different suppliers and different ideas, that then influences in a positive way the way we design our Australian product, and then vice versa, all of our brains trust for our Australian brand and our Australian products, they're then involved, and then we put all that wealth of experience back into our US model development.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I think when I'm thinking about our suppliers, a lot of our suppliers that we use for Market Direct Group as a business are the same for Australia and the US because we have such strong partnerships and we know that it works on these models.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_03: Why not just if you know if the certification aligns or if they've got a US variant or an Australian variant of that product, we absolutely will adopt those products.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's the way to do it.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_01: Richie, the XT22 lands in the US early in um 2027.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: How do those in America that are interested in this product go and check it out?
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_01: How to find their nearest dealer?
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_00: First place on the internet, mdcusa.com, and go from there.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we have great dealer partners, and all of those dealers will look after the customer.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_01: And some of those dealers do put a lot of their own content out on YouTube and and social media.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_01: So probably a good way to track when they will have it and available for you, the consumer, to go and check it out for yourself.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, Vaughn, where can MDC go from here in America?
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, MDC USA.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um look, we're committed to it.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_02: We've been in there um for a long time now.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it is a slow burn and it's a difficult market to break into, and we will keep developing uh new products for the US that'll actually work in Australia also.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um still waiting on James to come through with the 34-foot triple axle.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_03: Every time we have this conversation, a couple of extra feet go onto the onto the conversation.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_01: Triple axle gooseneck.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_03: Gooseneck, that's something new.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_01: That should be easy.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: Then the Rams can tow it and not break in the middle.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: Getting back to your question for Vaughan, I think we've done the hard yards and we've invested in the US market where they're for the long haul, which is exciting, what opportunities that will create going forward.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_01: And if from all everyone, if you had one word or one thing to say to the American market to give them an understanding of what MDC is all about, what would it be?
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think buy an MDC and escape with confidence.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_03: Very good.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think any US customer would be challenged to find a more capable uh overlanding travel trailer than an MDC USA.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_03: And you, Richie?
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_00: I guess it's they're built tough and uh great value.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_01: And from me, hey, check out our YouTube channel.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_01: If I don't break it, the chances are you're not going to break it anytime soon.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks for watching, everybody.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's been great to present our podcast to you.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to check out all the other content on our YouTube channel and keep an eye out for the XT22 coming to you in the US soon.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for watching.