A California company converts Mercedes-Benz minivans into $83,000 campers with pop-tops— see inside the Metris Anacapa

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5dc04b1c2f364a62530345a2-1524/10jupiter nomad vanz.jpg" border="0" alt="10_Jupiter Nomad Vanz" data-mce-source="Nomad Vanz" data-link="https://nomadvanz.com/gallery/beautiful-custom-vanz/jupiter/" /></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://nomadvanz.com/">Nomad Vanz</a> has created Jupiter, a bright-red custom tiny home on wheels.</li><li>Jupiter was built on the chassis of a red <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/mercedes-benz">Mercedes-Benz</a> Sprinter van with a 144-inch wheelbase and a high roof.</li><li>The van includes features like a dog barrier, toilet, shower, bed, and a kitchen.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Nomad Vanz, a camper van conversion design company, has created <a href="https://nomadvanz.com/gallery/beautiful-custom-vanz/jupiter/">Jupiter</a>, a bright-red Mercedes-Benz Sprinter converted into a camper van that can sleep up two people.</p><p>The North Vancouver, British Columbia-based company is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-nugget-tiny-home-built-inside-of-fords-transit-van-2019-10">one of</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-nugget-tiny-home-built-inside-of-fords-transit-van-2019-10">many</a> taking part in the trendy <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flippie-diy-ikea-based-ram-promaster-van-built-less-than-1000-2019-10">#VanLife movement</a> by creating custom live-in vans on the chassis of a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter or Metris.</p><p>The company specializes in custom vans for both weekend getaways and full-time van living, and will also work with United States-based clients so long as it's built on a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-vehicles-used-deliver-packages-2019-7">US-purchased Sprinter chassis</a>. </p><p>Jupiter is based on a Sprinter 4x4 Cargo Van 2500 with a high roof and a 144-inch wheelbase, costing at least $120,000 to convert. The van comes with accessories such as a dog barrier, toilet hidden in a cabinet, shower, and a foldable bed.</p><p>Keep scrolling to learn about Jupiter:</p>

Meet Jupiter, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van converted into a colorful tiny home on wheels.

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e3c2730e35bab53792943f2-1137/200129mercedescampervan01edistobeach0043.jpg" alt="2020 Mercedes-Benz Weekender" /><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/mercedes-benz">Mercedes-Benz</a> has unveiled its first pop-up camper van available in the US market: the <a href="https://media.mbusa.com/releases/release-b04e095eb7930ced5925d964ff0c4a3f-mercedes-benz-vans-unveils-its-first-pop-up-camper-for-the-us-market">Weekender</a>.</li><li>The camper van is being built on the body of a Mercedes-Benz Metris van and can seat five people and sleep four.</li><li>Pricing has not been announced yet.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its first pop-up camper van available in the US market: the Weekender.</p><p>The Mercedes-Benz brand has already been a popular choice for people partaking in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mercedes-benz-sprinter-turned-into-luxury-tiny-home-2019-9">#VanLife lifestyle:</a> its Sprinter, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-vehicles-used-deliver-packages-2019-7">Amazon also uses for deliveries</a>, is a favorite to use as the base of a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mercedes-benz-sprinter-van-tiny-home-fitz-roy-2019-11">tiny home on wheels</a>.</p><p>However, the automaker's new Weekender is being built on the body of the Mercedes-Benz Metris.</p><p>The camper van - which can sleep four people and seat five - comes with an added pop-up roof and standard Metris features, including a rearview camera.</p><p>The Weekender vans will be constructed by <a href="https://www.driverge.com/about/">Driverge Vehicle Innovations</a>, a commercial van manufacturer that modifies vans such as the Ford Transit and the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, and <a href="https://www.peacevansseattle.com/">Peace Vans</a>, which Mercedes-Benz claims is one of the US' largest camper van restorations and upgrades companies. Driverge - located in South Carolina - is part of Mercedes-Benz's Mastersolutions program which "upfits" Metris and Sprinter vans to fit customers' needs.</p><p>Keep scrolling to see more of the Weekender:</p>

Mercedes-Benz unveiled a new camper van with a pop-up roof that's coming to the US - see inside the 'Weekender'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/596e7b06c50c2933008b51ca-1710/17c38612.jpg" alt="Mercedes Benz X Class" data-mce-source="Mercedes-Benz" /><p class="source"><span>Mercedes-Benz</span></p><p class="caption">The Mercedes-Benz X-Class.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The Mercedes-Benz X-Class is the company's first true pickup truck.</strong></li><li><strong>It's not available for sale in the US.</strong></li><li><strong>Questionable whether it would be profitable.</strong></li><li><strong>It also doesn't fit with the brand's luxury ethos.</strong></li><li><strong>The X-Class is also built on a Renault-Nissan platform</strong>.</li></ul><p>This week, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the production version of its long-awaited X-Class pickup truck in Cape Town, South Africa.</p><p>Although the German automaker has a long and storied history of producing rugged utility vehicles alongside its luxury cars, the X-Class is the brand's first true pickup.</p><p>According to Mercedes, the X-Class is scheduled to launch in Europe this November followed by South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand in 2018. Argentina and Brazil will get the truck in 2019.</p><p>However, one market is conspicuously missing from the list. The largest and most profitable truck market in the world, the United States of America.</p><p>Unfortunately, there isn't a typo to be corrected. A Mercedes-Benz spokesman confirmed to Business Insider that the company has no plans to bring the X-Class to the US. Thus far, the company has not given a full explanation as to why the US of A won't see the truck.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/597282e5c50c29be088b5de3-1473/17c384012.jpg" alt="Mercedes Benz X Class" data-mce-source="Mercedes-Benz" /><p class="source"><span>Mercedes-Benz</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>After all, the US pickup market is massive. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-selling-cars-pickup-trucks-vehicle-america-2016-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">three best selling vehicles in America last year</a> were all pickups.</p><p>But, take a deeper dive into the mechanics of the US truck market and it becomes fairly clear why the X-Class, at least for now, isn't coming to America.</p><p>Even though automakers have sold more than 1.3 million pickups in the US this year, 1.12 million of them have been full-size trucks like the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado. The X-Class, on the other hand, is a mid-size truck and that market is much smaller.</p><p>(Competition in the full-size segment is so brutally competitive that industry heavyweights like Toyota and Nissan have struggled to gain any type of market traction. The two brands accounted for just of 78,000 of the 1.12 million in sales this year while Detroit's big three have neatly carved up the rest of the market.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59728300c50c2933008b5ed2-1776/17c383020.jpg" alt="Mercedes Benz X Class" data-mce-source="Mercedes-Benz" /><p class="source"><span>Mercedes-Benz</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>For Mercedes, the profitability of bringing an all-new truck into the market is questionable. Through June, consumers have purchased only 216,000 mid-size pickups in the US with annual growth at roughly 2.4%. The full-size segment is growing at 4.8% annually.</p><p>Further, Kelley Blue Book data shows the average transaction price for the segment at $32,000 - well below the $43,000 base price Mercedes set for the X-Class in Germany.</p><p>Unless Mercedes is willing to sell the X-Class in the US as a purely utilitarian work truck alongside the Metris and Sprinter commercial vans, anything less than $40,000 for a mid-size product doesn't coalesce with the brand's premium pricing strategy. For comparison, the cheapest Mercedes-Benz crossover is the GLA at $33,400 while the mid-size GLE starts at $52,200.</p><p>And the utility route is what Mercedes seems to be taking with the X-Class. After all, it's a product of the Mercedes-Benz Vans - the same division responsible for the Metris and Sprinter.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5972831e552be5a7088b5e03-1778/17c384009.jpg" alt="Mercedes Benz X Class" data-mce-source="Mercedes-Benz" /><p class="source"><span>Mercedes-Benz</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>In addition to luxury cars, Mercedes-Benz is known globally for producing reliable work vehicles ranging from taxis to cargo vans. In the US, however, it's a brand known almost exclusively as a purveyor of luxury autos. And it's a mystique that lets Mercedes charge its customers a price premium for the privilege of experiencing the luxury, performance, and refinement of its products.</p><p>Having seen the interior of the new X-Class, it's one that's definitely geared more toward surviving wear and tear than the cosseting leather-lined cocoons we are used to seeing in Mercedes' passenger cars.</p><p>(In case you're curious, power for the X-Class comes from a selection of turbodiesel engines with the most powerful rated at 258 horsepower. A 165 horsepower gasoline engine is available, but only in select markets like Dubai or Morocco. If, by some miracle, the X-Class does make it to the US, expect it to have more market appropriate powertrain options.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59728348552be54f008b5ee7-1911/17c41709.jpg" alt="Mercedes Benz X Class" data-mce-source="Mercedes-Benz" /><p class="source"><span>Mercedes-Benz</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Finally, there's the matter of the mechanics of the truck itself. Even though it's badged as a Mercedes-Benz, the X-Class is actually built on a Renault-Nissan platform at Renault-Nissan plants in Spain and Argentina.</p><p>According to <a href="http://www.automobilemag.com/news/watch-the-world-premiere-of-the-mercedes-benz-x-class/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Automobile</a>, the X-Class sits on the same platform that underpins Nissan's NP300 Navarra mid-size pickup. However, the NP300 Navarra isn't available in the US. (We're waiting to hear back from Nissan as to why.) Instead, Nissan is still selling the 13-year-old previous-generation version of the truck as the Frontier.</p><p>That means Mercedes-Benz would have to work out an arrangement with Nissan should it choose to sell the X-Class in the US.</p><p>So, there you have it. The Mercedes-Benz X-Class isn't coming to America. Even though, on the surface, it makes for a tantalizing option, the economics and the branding challenges associated with bringing the truck to the US simply doesn't make sense right now.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-more-skepticism-around-trumponomics-imf-growth-forecasts-2017-6">HENRY BLODGET: Seeing more skepticism around Trumponomics</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/MGUzMzQ5MjczMzEzYjZkZTJlYTFkMWEw"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="50N2pyYjE6nStK0w2LZMeKMNxAoc7UAg" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '50N2pyYjE6nStK0w2LZMeKMNxAoc7UAg',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "mercedes benz metris" and got 4 results

A California company converts Mercedes-Benz minivans into $83,000 campers with pop-tops— see inside the Metris Anacapa

Brittany Chang

Meet Jupiter, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van converted into a colorful tiny home on wheels.

Brittany Chang

Mercedes-Benz unveiled a new camper van with a pop-up roof that's coming to the US - see inside the 'Weekender'

Brittany Chang

Why Americans can't buy the new Mercedes-Benz pickup truck

Benjamin Zhang