New-for-2018 Elddis motorhomes

The 2018-season offering from Elddis will be the last that is produced entirely under UK ownership.

The County Durham manufacturer was bought by the Erwin Hymer Group in February, but as Managing Director Rob Quine pointed out at the launch, all relevant decisions about the new season had been made by December, so there will have been no German input in what you see here.

So is this a good year to acquire a bit of British design while you still can?

Well, in motorhome terms the changes have been fairly subtle. Parent company, the Explorer Group, may have made fairly substantial changes to its touring caravan ranges which, along with Elddis, includes Compass, Buccaneer and Xplore.

But Elddis is the only brand that also offers motorhomes, and changes here have been more minor, with effectively only one new layout.

The headlines

That one ‘new’ model is the Elddis Accordo 105 – although it is more of a substantially revised model than an all-new offering.

It’s a two-berth ’van in the brand’s compact range, in which every model is under 2.6m in height and less than 6m long.

The 105 features an end washroom, with a central kitchen and a sideboard to the right of the door as you walk in, plus two spacious settees up front.

But what is potentially just as headline-grabbing as any new layout this year is the prices.

Elddis was one of the first UK manufacturers to reveal its prices for the new year, and has boldly committed not to increase them for the rest of the season, no matter what battering the approach of Brexit may give sterling.

The changes

This year’s price rises mean that you can no longer buy an Elddis motorhome on the road for less than £40,000, while the most upmarket range – the four Encore models – now come in at a shade over £50,000. Individual Accordo models are differentiated in price, too.

But, overall, that still represents a price rise of between 2.1 and 4.2% – only slightly above inflation and pretty modest compared with some price rises seen elsewhere.

This season, the four Elddis Accordo models now include a habitation door window, a new bathroom door handle (except on models which have sliding doors), Azure Blue aluminium side panels and new ‘Everley in Espresso’ upholstery.

Karnak graphite worktops have matching edges in the Accordo ’vans, and the beds use Ozio’s new Argentum anti-bacterial mattress.

New for Encore

The Alde-heated Encores, meanwhile, also include new bathroom door handles, as with the Accordos, and the same new Ozio anti-bacterial mattress.

There’s a new ‘Arran in Mulberry’ upholstery, too, made in pet-friendly fabric. This material, which is also being introduced in the more upmarket Explorer Group touring caravan ranges, has been designed with a very tight weave to prevent animal’s claws from making holes. It also has anti-bacterial properties and should keep away nasty smells.

There’s a new graphic scheme on the champagne aluminium exterior of the Encore ’vans, too.

Autoquest updates

The Autoquest range has included the six-berth 196 with the drop-down bed for the past season.

Its inclusion increases the number of people you can take with you in your Autoquest and goes some way to explaining why this range has been the basis for many a dealer special.

This season you will find the models with new bathroom door handles, a window in the habitation door, an anti-bacterial Ozio mattress, and ‘Everley in Espresso’ upholstery with Karnak graphite worktops, just like the Elddis Accordo range.

The 2018-season Autoquest ’vans also get their own new graphics on the outside, while locker doors have been changed to Fantasy Mink and Soft Sand, to co-ordinate more with their surrounds.

In other news

The list of options available across all three Elddis motorhome ranges now includes alloy wheels, for £650, and an exterior barbecue point, for £105.

And even if this is the last all-British season, it’s by no means the end of British influence in the company.

Following the aforementioned takeover, the Explorer Group’s title has changed to Erwin Hymer UK.

That means Elddis staff will have marketing responsibility for all Erwin Hymer motorhomes in the UK – in other words Dethleffs, Bürstner, Laika, Sunlight, Carado and Niesmann+Bischoff, not forgetting Hymer itself.

Can we expect to see some more UK-friendly influences coming into these brands? We shall have to wait and see.

2018 Elddis motorhomes at-a-glance

• Elddis Autoquest 115 – 2 berths, 2 seats, 3300kg MTPLM, 5.70m long, end kitchen, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £40,799
• Elddis Autoquest 155 – 2 berths, 3 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.12m long, French bed, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £42,381
• Elddis Autoquest 175 – 2 berths, 2 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.20m long, end washroom, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £41,681
• Elddis Autoquest 185 – 4 berths, 4 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.33m long, fixed single beds, end washroom, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £43,281
• Elddis Autoquest 195 – 4 berths, 4 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.33m long, rear U-shaped lounge, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £43,081
• Elddis Autoquest 196 – 6 berths, 6 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.33m long, rear lounge, drop-down bed, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £43,681
    
• Elddis Accordo 105 – 2 berths, 2 seats, 3300kg MTPLM, 5.99m long, end kitchen, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £41,149
• Elddis Accordo 120 – 2 berths, 2 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 5.99m long, rear lounge, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £40,849
• Elddis Accordo 125 – 3 berths, 4 seats, 3300kg MTPLM, 5.99m long, rear transverse bed, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £41,349
• Elddis Accordo 135 – 3 berths, 4 seats, 3300kg MTPLM, 5.99m long, rear lounge, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £41,349
    
• Elddis Encore 254 – 4 berths, 2 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.40m long, island bed, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £50,849
• Elddis Encore 255 – 4 berths, 2 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.41m long, French bed, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £50,849
• Elddis Encore 275 – 2 berths, 2 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.41m long, end washroom, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £50,849
• Elddis Encore 285 – 4 berths, 2 seats, 3500kg MTPLM, 7.40m long, fixed single beds, end washroom, 2.0-litre Peugeot Boxer, £50,849