At the Motorhome and Caravan Show this month, CamperKing showed three new roof options for its VW T7 campervans. The release leans on the word that gets leaned on at every show: new, clever, a step forward.

Look past that. CamperKing already builds its roofs in-house. That is its model, not its news. The news sits one layer down and is quieter: it has re-engineered its roof range for the T7, a van that is really a Ford underneath, and it has done it ahead of most of the trade.

A converter re-tools its roofs for a new base vehicle because it has to. The ground has moved under every VW camper builder at once. What this launch shows is who can move first, and why. That is the story, and it is bigger than three tent options.

What CamperKing Has Actually Launched

Strip the show-stand language and here is what sits underneath.

Three of the new options are for the short-wheelbase VW T7:

  • A fabricated polycarbonate pop-top roof, built in-house. CamperKing says it is around 30kg lighter than its current pop-top, with a new lockable, positive-catch latch. A long-wheelbase version is in development.
  • A Vango roof tent, made by Vango for CamperKing and built to fit the new roof. CamperKing says it uses Tencate fabric with a 400mm hydrostatic head, bigger windows with mesh panels, and a matching awning.
  • The Freescape SDZ, an inflating roof tent inside a side-opening pop-top, on build-to-order short-wheelbase vans. CamperKing quotes 2.4 metres of front-to-back headroom and a 140cm by 200cm bed, with a foam mattress, pump and insulated bed board, and says it still works with the company’s solar panels.

A fourth roof, a utility-style top, launches on the new Crafter range, the Pioneer and Frontier.

That is the product. Now the signal.

What the New Roofs Actually Signal

The tents are the show window. The polycarbonate roof, re-engineered for the T7, is the business decision.

CamperKing has made its own pop-tops for years, alongside its furniture, upholstery and interiors, from its Banbury plant. So the headline is not that a roof is built in-house. It is that the in-house model let CamperKing re-tool fast when the base vehicle changed, while a converter who buys roofs off the shelf waits on a supplier to catch up.

That matters for three reasons, and they all point the same way.

First, the platform. The T7 is not a VW the way the T6.1 was. It is built on the Ford Transit Custom, the product of the VW and Ford commercial-vehicle alliance. A converter’s old T6 roof tooling and fit does not carry straight over. Whoever builds T7-specific hardware first gets to set the template while rivals are still measuring up.

Second, weight. A converted campervan fights a payload limit. Every kilo in the roof is a kilo off what the owner can load before the van tips over its weight plate. CamperKing’s claimed 30kg saving, if it holds, is not a spec-sheet boast. It is payload handed back to the customer, and a line a salesperson can use.

Third, the timeline. A converter that owns its tooling decides when a new roof ships. One that buys roofs in waits for a supplier to design, tool and deliver for the T7, then joins the queue behind every other customer. CamperKing’s in-house model is years old. Its payoff this year is speed.

The market this lands in is not booming. New motorhome and campervan registrations hit a record 16,668 in 2025 on NCC and European Caravan Federation figures, up 90.9% on 2014. But that was a 1.3% rise on the year, not a surge, and growth has flattened, as the thin gate at this year’s show confirmed.

When volume stops doing the work, product and cost control do. CamperKing has gone after both, in the same flat market where Trigano is shipping more motorhomes than the demand quite supports.

What This Means for Converters and Dealers

Three things to do with this, not three things to note.

Decide where you stand on the T7. The new Transporter is a different base vehicle, Ford underneath and VW on the badge. If you convert VWs, your T6 roof, bed and electrical fit are not a given any more. Work out this quarter whether you build T7-specific hardware or buy it in, because the converters who settle it first will own the early sales.

Treat payload as a selling point, not a footnote. CamperKing is leading with a lighter roof for a reason. Pull the payload figures on your own builds and put them on the vehicle page next to the price. A buyer worried about overloading a 3.5-tonne van will pick the lighter one. If you do not show the number, you cannot win on it.

Ask who owns your timeline. You may never tool up to make your own roof, and you may not need to. But CamperKing’s T7 roofs landed early for a reason: it controls its own tooling, so it waited on no one. Which parts of your build sit with an outside supplier whose queue you join when the base vehicle changes? Supply you own is a timeline you own.

What It Means for Buyers

For the buyer, the choice got wider and the sums got clearer.

Three roofs now cover three different wants. A light, strong pop-top for the owner who cares about payload and how the van drives. A full roof tent for families who want the extra bed and the view. The Freescape for buyers who want standing-height headroom and a quick inflating setup.

The honest caveat is that most of the detail, the 30kg saving, the fabric rating, the headroom, comes from CamperKing’s own measurements for now. Those are fair questions for a buyer to put to a salesperson, and fair ones for a dealer to have ready.

The Signal for Next Year

Strip away the show stand and this reads as a small story about roofs. Look again and it is a bigger one about who controls the campervan.

The T7 has handed every VW converter the same problem: a new base vehicle that will not take the old kit. CamperKing’s answer is to build more of the van itself, and lean on weight and choice while the market is flat. Some rivals will follow. Some will keep buying in and competing on price.

So here is the question for your business. When the base vehicle changes under you, do you wait for a supplier to catch up, or do you build the part yourself and set the terms? CamperKing has placed its bet. What is yours?