The Occupy Wall Street movement may have helped spread a booming new trend — in high luxury.
As income inequality dominated headlines in 2011, wealthy Americans began increasingly forgoing limos and Maybachs for something less showy: cargo vans. Rather, vans that look like they’re just hauling cargo.
The Mercedes Sprinter, at 22 feet long and nearly 9 feet tall, is becoming an increasingly common sight in swanky neighborhoods from New York City to Beverly Hills. The vehicle’s exterior resembles an oversized airport shuttle bus, but clients have eagerly had interiors tricked out with Italian leather seats, gold plating and even built-in humidors.
“The Sprinter doesn’t draw big attention to you like pulling up in a stretch limousine or a Maserati,” said Tim Gray, owner of Midwest Automotive Designs, one of the largest Sprinter customization companies in the U.S. “It’s still a van, but it’s a van that might contain a fully functional office.”
Sprinter sales almost doubled in 2011, according to Dan Barile, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman. Almost 17,000 models were snapped up by wealthy individuals, ambulance companies, delivery services and even a company called “Wag’n Tails,” which outfitted the van for mobile pet grooming.
Gray’s shop in Elkhart, Ind., upfitted about 200 vehicles last year, a 20 percent jump over 2010, with the most noticeable increase in orders coming from New York. Recently, it tricked out Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s new black Sprinter, and vehicles for the likes of Nascar champion Rusty Wallace, rapper T.I., fashion designer Peter Nygård and corporations like AT&T and HBO.
Bespoke features range from comfortable mobile offices — equipped with satellite television, iPad docks, printers and high speed Internet — to ritzy party cars with mirrored ceilings, glass floors, bathrooms, showers and built-in karaoke consoles.
One client who wished to remain anonymous had a cigar bar installed, featuring a cedar-lined humidor, while another commissioned an elegant business interior that accommodated a detachable stripper pole that is “discretely stored in the rear compartment when it is not in use,” said Kenny Willard, production manager at Midwest Automotive Design.
“The last time we saw a custom van trend this strong was in the 1970s,” said Scott Oldham, editor in chief of automotive research site Edmunds.com, adding that the Sprinter has “reinvented the segment unto itself.”
In Oxnard, Calif., Becker Automotive Design offers clients the so-called “Jetvan” service, duplicating the interior of their private jets inside their Sprinter vans. Becker’s client roster allegedly includes seven royal families, Tiger Woods, Shaquille O’Neal, Jennifer Lopez, former Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner and junk bond king Michael Milken.
“We had clients say, ‘Look, I just agonized over my $30 million jet and its interior, and we picked out all the wood and seats and leather and carpet. Can you copy this?’ ” said Howard Becker, owner of Becker Automotive, of how the JetVan got started.
Becker noted that sales “exploded” in 2011, and that the company is backlogged with business in 2012, in part because of Occupy Wall Street frustration.
“Wealthy people are grateful, but they are also sensitive,” he said. “So yes, Occupy Wall Street is a trend that has helped us, and helped develop our market segment.”
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans cost from $40,320 to as much as $500,000, depending on upgrades. The vehicle’s six-cylinder diesel engine averages about 25 miles per gallon on the highway and regular maintenance is only required every 10,000 miles, whereas the traditional gas engine which must be checked every 3,000 miles.
The Sprinter, rolled out in Europe in 1995 and brought to North America in 2001, was distributed under the Dodge brand for a time during the brief merger of Chrysler with Mercedes-Benz parent company, Daimler AG. It wasn’t until 2010 that the vans began to be sold at Mercedes-Benz dealerships.
And though Mercedes-Benz had built commercial vehicles in Europe for decades, analysts questioned whether a passenger van in a Mercedes showroom might hurt the company’s cachet in United States where customers were unaccustomed to seeing the three-pointed star on delivery vans. “It was seen as a little bit of a gamble,” said Eric Mayne, editor of news operations at Ward’s Auto, a U.S. automotive news site, who pointed to the vans’ sales as proof that Mercedes-Benz made the right call.
The Sprinter’s success in the past two years has spurred a host of copycat products. Chrysler plans to unveil a vehicle of similar design based on the Fiat Ducato, which competes directly in Europe with the Sprinter. Ford will be releasing the Ford Transit, a commercial vehicle so far sold only overseas, and Nissan has recently launched vans of a similar ilk called the “NV.”
Time will tell if the boxy Benz can stay ahead of the competition.
As income inequality dominated headlines in 2011, wealthy Americans began increasingly forgoing limos and Maybachs for something less showy: cargo vans. Rather, vans that look like they’re just hauling cargo.
The Mercedes Sprinter, at 22 feet long and nearly 9 feet tall, is becoming an increasingly common sight in swanky neighborhoods from New York City to Beverly Hills. The vehicle’s exterior resembles an oversized airport shuttle bus, but clients have eagerly had interiors tricked out with Italian leather seats, gold plating and even built-in humidors.
“The Sprinter doesn’t draw big attention to you like pulling up in a stretch limousine or a Maserati,” said Tim Gray, owner of Midwest Automotive Designs, one of the largest Sprinter customization companies in the U.S. “It’s still a van, but it’s a van that might contain a fully functional office.”
Sprinter sales almost doubled in 2011, according to Dan Barile, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman. Almost 17,000 models were snapped up by wealthy individuals, ambulance companies, delivery services and even a company called “Wag’n Tails,” which outfitted the van for mobile pet grooming.
Gray’s shop in Elkhart, Ind., upfitted about 200 vehicles last year, a 20 percent jump over 2010, with the most noticeable increase in orders coming from New York. Recently, it tricked out Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s new black Sprinter, and vehicles for the likes of Nascar champion Rusty Wallace, rapper T.I., fashion designer Peter Nygård and corporations like AT&T and HBO.
Bespoke features range from comfortable mobile offices — equipped with satellite television, iPad docks, printers and high speed Internet — to ritzy party cars with mirrored ceilings, glass floors, bathrooms, showers and built-in karaoke consoles.
One client who wished to remain anonymous had a cigar bar installed, featuring a cedar-lined humidor, while another commissioned an elegant business interior that accommodated a detachable stripper pole that is “discretely stored in the rear compartment when it is not in use,” said Kenny Willard, production manager at Midwest Automotive Design.
“The last time we saw a custom van trend this strong was in the 1970s,” said Scott Oldham, editor in chief of automotive research site Edmunds.com, adding that the Sprinter has “reinvented the segment unto itself.”
In Oxnard, Calif., Becker Automotive Design offers clients the so-called “Jetvan” service, duplicating the interior of their private jets inside their Sprinter vans. Becker’s client roster allegedly includes seven royal families, Tiger Woods, Shaquille O’Neal, Jennifer Lopez, former Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner and junk bond king Michael Milken.
“We had clients say, ‘Look, I just agonized over my $30 million jet and its interior, and we picked out all the wood and seats and leather and carpet. Can you copy this?’ ” said Howard Becker, owner of Becker Automotive, of how the JetVan got started.
Becker noted that sales “exploded” in 2011, and that the company is backlogged with business in 2012, in part because of Occupy Wall Street frustration.
“Wealthy people are grateful, but they are also sensitive,” he said. “So yes, Occupy Wall Street is a trend that has helped us, and helped develop our market segment.”
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans cost from $40,320 to as much as $500,000, depending on upgrades. The vehicle’s six-cylinder diesel engine averages about 25 miles per gallon on the highway and regular maintenance is only required every 10,000 miles, whereas the traditional gas engine which must be checked every 3,000 miles.
The Sprinter, rolled out in Europe in 1995 and brought to North America in 2001, was distributed under the Dodge brand for a time during the brief merger of Chrysler with Mercedes-Benz parent company, Daimler AG. It wasn’t until 2010 that the vans began to be sold at Mercedes-Benz dealerships.
And though Mercedes-Benz had built commercial vehicles in Europe for decades, analysts questioned whether a passenger van in a Mercedes showroom might hurt the company’s cachet in United States where customers were unaccustomed to seeing the three-pointed star on delivery vans. “It was seen as a little bit of a gamble,” said Eric Mayne, editor of news operations at Ward’s Auto, a U.S. automotive news site, who pointed to the vans’ sales as proof that Mercedes-Benz made the right call.
The Sprinter’s success in the past two years has spurred a host of copycat products. Chrysler plans to unveil a vehicle of similar design based on the Fiat Ducato, which competes directly in Europe with the Sprinter. Ford will be releasing the Ford Transit, a commercial vehicle so far sold only overseas, and Nissan has recently launched vans of a similar ilk called the “NV.”
Time will tell if the boxy Benz can stay ahead of the competition.
PHOTO: James Fassinger for The Daily
A finished luxury Mercedes-Benz by Midwest Automotive Designs can run a customer anywhere from $150,000 on up.
