A deal to salvage collapsed Queensland luxury caravan manufacturer Zone RV will leave more than 100 customers about $10 million out of pocket.
The company went into administration in December owing $42 million and was put into liquidation in January.
melbourne-based Essential Caravans has purchased Zone RV’s assets from the liquidator and luxury vans will continue to be built at the company’s Sunshine Coast factory.
But existing customers who had collectively paid millions of dollars in progress payments have been frozen out of the deal.
Some people had paid more than $160,000 towards caravans that had not been built when Zone RV collapsed.
Zone RV’s new owner Jamie Johnson says he will scrap the progressive payment system. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)
Essential Caravans director Jamie Johnson said while he felt “sick in the stomach” for customers who lost money, he could not carry their debt.
“It just wasn’t possible to keep the business alive and take on the obligations for the customers,” he said.
“Some of them we can accommodate fully, but some of them have obviously paid a substantial amount and the business just can’t sustain being able to absorb that going forward.”
Mr Johnson said he would contact affected customers “the minute…