By William Coleman
Where better than the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show to launch a brand new caravan to your range? Bailey of Bristol pulled out the big guns last week at the NEC to wow visitors and dealers.
Bailey’s Unicorn range has been in firm pole position as the UK’s most popular premium range caravan. Now in it’s 4th generation the Bailey team have spared no expense to keep the their newest van at the top of the mountain.
Last week were got a first hand look at the brand new Unicorn Merida and we liked what we saw. Due to how busy the vans were we were unable to give a full review but we can tell you all about it thanks to a chat I had with the Bailey team.
The new single axle 2 berth, which features a front lounge and end washroom, has a totally new look both inside and out. A measure Bailey took on all of their 4th generation Unicorn models as they believe that a fresh approach was a step in the right direction to ensure their vans do not go stale and repetitive year after year.
So how do you create a new van within an existing range in an already heavily saturated market? You spend 18 months putting together all your plans and ideas, that’s how.
During the year and a half process the design team added the input of both customer and retailer focus groups to ensure they were producing a van that was born of feedback and criticism, which is always important to listen to. If you do not know the bad how can you improve?
The result of listening to their customer base has given Bailey a real step forward in caravan design. The new Unicorns are very much different from their older siblings and feature a dramatic look both inside and out.
On top of the new designs there has also been improvements in the layout, enhanced specification levels, accessible unladen weights and a competitive retail price.
With an MTPLM of 1330kg and under 5 meters in length, the Merida is an extremely light, yet spacious vehicle, and joins the existing ten models launched in 2017, which have seen great success since hitting the market.
The Unicorn range as a whole is a certainly a 4 season touring van. On board you will find an Alde programmable central heating system, featuring a user-friendly digital control panel with battery back-up for uninterrupted programming.
The vehicle have also been put through thorough testing in a cold chamber test to ensure optimum performance. Whilst a roof mounted Truma 100 watt solar panel allows you the additional freedom to enjoy off-grid caravan holidays.
Commenting on the launch of the new Unicorn Merida, Managing Director, Nick Howard said: “The fourth generation Unicorn range is a real step forward in Bailey caravan design, and the new Merida layout o ers more choice for the discerning caravan owner.
Add to that comprehensive specification levels, accessible unladen weights and a competitive retail price and we believe, the fourth generation Unicorn range is an extremely attractive proposition.”
