Once upon a time...

Founding of Vanomobil

Vanomobil was founded on 17 July 1989. This new company was the merger of two companies, one specialising in caravan sales (located in Roeselare), the other in motorhome sales (located in Mouscron) and both owned by Roger Vanhoo. Vanomobil has moved into a brand new showroom in Wevelgem, a first in the sector with a 4,000 m² covered and heated showroom. Vanomobil was the official importer for Knaus motorhomes and caravans, Laika motorhomes, Autostar motorhomes, Beyerland Caravans and Chateau Caravans. In the brand-new workshop at the back of the building, four vehicles could be worked on at the same time. In the early days, Vanomobil was run by Roger, with his daughter Véronique. The Vanomobil team then consisted of 5 employees: Beatrijs, Christophe, Cécile, Bernard and Guy.

Launch of our first website

The launch of Vanomobil's first website and the first in the industry.

A new generation

The younger generation takes the reins. Véronique Vanhoo, along with her husband Ignace Coudron decide to make this exciting business their life's work. Vanomobil has six employees and also starts distributing Chausson motorhomes in Belgium. 

Together, Véronique and Ignace carefully build this family business into the beloved Vanomobil we all know. Over the years the brands represented have evolved, but one thing has remained the same over all these years: our unfailing commitment to good service. Below we sum up some important milestones of the last 20 years.

New partnership

Start of cooperation with Hoga (Vanomobil Hoogstraten), enabling us to serve the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg better and more intensively.

New milestone

Vanomobil recruits its 10th employee and passes the €8M turnover mark!

Italian success

After more than 15 years of pleasant cooperation, Vanomobil decides to stop importing the Autostar brand into Belgium. We expand our offer downwards by attracting a "cheaper" Italian brand: Dinghy motorhomes (the later Sharky). The attractive and inexpensive family models met with immediate success: 40 units were sold in the first year.

Vanomobil is bursting at the seams

Vanomobil is really bursting at the seams, especially the workshop and parking area have become too small and stand in the way of a good after-sales service. After a thorough search, we buy a piece of land of almost 10 000m² a bit further down the street. It will take more than a year before the necessary permits are granted.

We are moving out

The time has come, in September 2006 we have moved into our new buildings, which are almost double the size of the old ones.The workshop in particular received a lot of attention and space, as that is undoubtedly where our future lies.

Move pays off

The effect of the new facilities is clearly making itself felt, our turnover is growing exponentially and we clocked up a turnover of 12M Euros for the year. Our focus is entirely on the efficient organisation of the after-sales service, warehouse and the search for suitable employees for the service department. This year, we complement our offering with German Bürstner and French Itineo.

The team continues to grow

This year, our 20th employee joined our team and together we're achieving sales of around 15 million euros!

Our services are expanding

We are starting to rent out parking spaces. In a large 2000m² hangar nearby, we offer our customers a neat storage space at very democratic prices. We continue to develop our after-sales service and take on our tenth technician. Motorhome rental is in full swing, with over 50 Vanomobil rental vans on the roads of Europe during the summer months!

Anniversary

An anniversary year we won't soon forget! We celebrate our 20th anniversary with a big Vanomobil Family Weekend with 800 customers. We then decided to specialise 100% in motorhomes, and our popular Vano Shop was born. In April, we became the exclusive distributor for Belgium of the famous German brand Niesmann+Bischoff. This decision involves a complete overhaul of our showroom and workshop. We will be expanding by 1000m², most of which will be reserved for an additional workshop, 100m² will be used for the shop and the remaining part will be reserved for the presentation of Niesmann+Bischoff's magnificent Arto and Flair products.

New brands and new point of sale

Adria et Westfalia rejoignent notre offre et une relation commerciale fructueuse de longue date avec l'entreprise Funshare est concrétisée par l'établissement d'un point de vente Vanomobil supplémentaire à Tremelo (Baal). Vous pouvez venir ici pour toutes nos marques et bien sûr pour un service de première classe sur toutes les marques de camping-cars, un accessoire de qualité ou une location.

Lack of space

The quiet but steady growth makes itself felt in our facilities and employees. We are acutely short of space in Wevelgem and Hoogstraten. Hoogstraten still has room for expansion and decides to invest in an ambitious renovation plan where, in addition to redesigning the entire sales outlet, a brand-new 1500m² showroom will see the light of day! The offices will also be thoroughly overhauled and there will also be a beautiful brand new Vanomobil Shop! Completion date of the works is scheduled for November 2017.

Wevelgem is another matter, as all expansion possibilities have already been used. Alternative sites in the surrounding area are virtually non-existent, as we need between 15,000 and 20,000m² to properly carry out our activities. Eventually it was decided to buy a plot of land along the E17 motorway near the Deerlijk exit. The intention is to set up a hypermodern, trendsetting motorhome sales outlet there, where all attention will be focused on our customers and employees.

We are moving (again)

We've started building our new showroom and workshop in Deerlijk, on a 15,000m² site just off the E17 motorway. With its 3,000m², it will be an impressive showroom, but above all the workshop of almost 4,000m² will be the heart of our company and should ensure that in time we can work on more than 30 motorhomes simultaneously! This new infrastructure will enable us to welcome our customers in ideal conditions. Service, customer care and quality remain our core values. That's why we want to put even more emphasis on our after-sales service, support and staff training. By building a large car park on the roof, we save over 5000m² of parking space on the ground! But how do you mount these motorhomes on the roof? Finally, we've found a lift manufacturer in northern Germany capable of building and maintaining such gigantic lifts! This lift will also be used to supply our 800 m² warehouse on the first floor! 

We're also planning a 300 m² accessories shop, 800 m² offices, a large kitchen and relaxation area for employees and even a large indoor garden planted with trees, so that our employees and customers can find a little peace and quiet between busy periods. Oh yes, and of course there has to be a service point and overnight accommodation! We have 4 spacious sleeping places with the option of connecting to 220V for customers who like to arrive the night before or for motorhomes that are on the road and want to spend the night. The big move from Wevelgem to Deerlijk takes place over Christmas 2018! For almost 2 weeks, we have been working hard to be active again from the beginning of January, but in Deerlijk, to ensure as little inconvenience as possible for our customers.

Vanomobil celebrates

Together with our customers, we're celebrating our 30th anniversary with the legendary Camping Vanomobil. 

Insuring expansion options

We get the chance to buy an adjacent plot of land towards Ghent of almost 10000m² to secure possible future expansion opportunities. We will also get the chance to rent 5000m² in the adjacent factory (Bayong) which will be converted into 200 parking spaces for our Vanomobil customers.

Vanomobil meets camping show Vervaet

Although they are competitors in the motorhome market, there has always been a link between Campingshow Vervaet and Vanomobil. Not only because they have both been distributing the quality German motorhome brand Bürstner for years, but also because both companies regard customer care and satisfaction as their most important mission! So it was no surprise that Christel & Stany were the first to contact Véro & Ignace, who were looking for a buyer for the business they had been running for over 50 years.

The two parties soon reached an agreement, but there was still one major hurdle to overcome. As Stany & Christel had the option of selling their premises to a supermarket, we had to look for a new location! After an intense search, we suddenly had the opportunity to buy a greenfield site on the corner of Zelebaan and Dijkstraat, not far from the E17 motorway exit! We immediately began drawing up plans for what would become one of the most beautiful and efficient motorhome experience centres in Flanders.

New construction gets underway

We will finally get approval for our plans in early 2023. Works will start in June with the intention of opening in spring 2024.