The figures, and the nation's increasing love of luxury brands, would seem to indicate that the time is ripe for the Chinese RV sector to expand - and there is plenty of room for growth.

The RV industry in China is in its infancy. Out of a population of 1.3 billion, ownership of the multipurpose vehicles totaled just 6,000 by the end of 2011. Conversely, the number is 8.9 million in the US, 6.5 million in Europe, and in Japan, 78,000.

"The figure may seem relatively small, but it has doubled and redoubled over the past few years," said Wang Xudong, senior editor at 21rv.

For industry insiders, such a low ownership rate is a "glass half-full" situation - the low starting point means that the growth potential is massive. That's been acknowledged by Western RV manufacturers, such as Hymer of Germany and Evergreen in the US, who are now targeting the Chinese market, either by employing local agents or by setting up factories with domestic producers.

The growing interest in such an undeveloped market from overseas rivals has increased the pressure on domestic players, but their optimism makes them stick with the industry in the hope of becoming pioneers.

But the path to success is likely to be bumpy, and the industry faces a number of potential roadblocks.

Policy glitches

For Wang, the most important factors limiting the industry have been the attitudes of policymakers and police, whose stringent policies regarding the vehicles often make ownership of an RV seem more like a pain than a pleasure.

"Vehicles with a displacement of 1.2 liters or higher have been allowed to tow a trailer RV weighing less than 700 kilograms since 1994, according to the relevant traffic laws. But I was fined for driving like that in Beijing about 10 years ago," said Meng Qiang, an RV enthusiast, who set up his own brand, Sojourner, in 2010.