"The market is weaker" is a phrase. With a curve and figures it becomes an argument. The European motorhome market went through a COVID boom that peaked in 2021, a dip in 2022 and 2023, and a partial recovery. Morelo's parent, Knaus Tabbert, saw profit collapse in 2024. Here is what the numbers say, and what they mean for the buying math.
The economics and production figures below are Morelo's, drawn from its listed parent Knaus Tabbert. Read them as the leader of the premium liner segment, not the whole market. Concorde and Phoenix, the other two makers we advise on, are placed in context in the next section.
Registrations jumped about 45 percent into the 2021 peak, fell back through 2022 and 2023, and by 2024 and 2025 settled near the pre-COVID trend rather than the COVID high. The boom was a deferred-holiday effect, not a new baseline.
Morelo's parent, Knaus Tabbert, which owns the Morelo brand, had a hard 2024: revenue down a quarter and the EBITDA margin from roughly 8.6 percent to about 2.6 percent, on dealer overstock and a production halt of about two months. The 2025 guidance is around one billion with a thinner margin. For a buyer this is context, not gossip: a maker clearing inventory and defending margin is more open to a deal.
Morelo volume grew steadily, from 501 to 572 units between 2021 and 2023. This is a small, specialist output: the liners are built in low numbers, which is part of why good used examples are thin on the ground and why immediate availability carries a value of its own.
Three makers, all in Franconia around Schlüsselfeld, dominate the European luxury liner segment. Morelo is the largest, at roughly 570 vehicles a year and number one in the segment. Concorde builds around 400 a year by its own account. Phoenix is the smaller specialist and does not publish volumes. Because Concorde and Phoenix are privately held and report no yearly figures, an exact share-over-time comparison cannot be built from public data without guessing, so we do not show one here.
Morelo volume from Knaus Tabbert segment reporting. Concorde output from Concorde's own factory information. Phoenix does not disclose figures.
New list prices jumped 15 to 25 percent in 2022 and 2023 (extremes of plus 40 to 50 percent from 2020); since 2024 the rise has stalled and discounts have appeared. Used values one to three years old are falling 10 to 15 percent a year, so a buyer on the used market is buying into a falling knife, but with room to negotiate. Premium liners hold value in percentage terms better than the mass market, though the pool of buyers is thin.
New prices ran up hard and then stalled; the used market is now correcting fast. The best value sits where someone else has already paid the steepest first-year drop. The question is not new versus used in the abstract, but which model, which age and which specification give the lowest monthly cost of ownership for the way you actually travel.
The fall is not linear: the first years are steep, then the curve flattens. A ten-year-old Empire Liner around 220 thousand against a list of roughly 500 thousand is about 44 percent, an average of only 5 to 6 percent a year, and marginally just 2 to 3 percent a year on an old vehicle. That changes the monthly cost of ownership completely.
| Age band | Marginal drop |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1 year | −18 % |
| 1 to 3 years | −10 to −14 % / yr |
| 3 to 6 years | −6 to −8 % / yr |
| 6 to 10 years | −4 to −5 % / yr |
| 10+ years | −2 to −3 % / yr |
The Mercedes or Iveco chassis at 120 thousand kilometres is still effectively new, so the vehicle serves for years more. Insurance and fixed costs fall with the value of the vehicle, and are worth counting over time.
Maximum comfort, full warranty, the newest design. It carries the steepest drop, about 18 percent in the first year. For someone who does not mind depreciation.
Someone else paid the steep first drop. For the price of a new lower model you reach a higher one with richer equipment. The sweet spot of the curve.
A chassis at 120 thousand kilometres still like new, a marginal drop of only 2 to 3 percent a year, the lowest monthly cost of ownership. Full service at a fraction of the price.
Market figures compiled 08/2026 from public sources (ECF, CIVD, Knaus Tabbert investor relations, promobil). Some series are illustrative and marked as such; the thin liner market moves with condition, chassis and equipment. Not investment advice.
Sources: Knaus Tabbert 2025 annual report, European Caravan Federation, CIVD, Concorde.
We match the model, the age and the specification to how you travel, so the monthly cost of ownership makes sense. That is the core of a consultation.