Midwest Automotive Designs

About Midwest Automotive Designs

Midwest Automotive Designs, based in Elkhart, Indiana, designs and builds luxury Class B RV and executive conversions on Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Ford Transit, and Ram ProMaster chassis. The company was established in 2000 and traces its lineage to earlier Elkhart conversion companies — Chariot Vans (1978), StarCraft and Imperial Vans (1992), and Elk Automotive (1998) — which together produced nearly 260,000 vehicles. Midwest Automotive Designs was acquired by publicly traded REV Group (NYSE: REVG) in 2017 and also builds private-label vans for other brands including Ultimate Toys, Chinook, Holiday Rambler, Fleetwood, and American Coach. It operates from a 23-acre campus in Elkhart and sells through a network of RV dealers.

How they build

Midwest emphasizes fully custom, no-two-alike craftsmanship built to full federal motor vehicle safety standards (it says it built the first second-stage FMVSS-compliant Sprinter conversion), paired with technology-driven innovation such as its 2016 Freedom Package lithium electrical system designed to eliminate reliance on propane.

• Mercedes-Benz Sprinter luxury conversions
• First FMVSS-compliant second-stage Sprinter conversion
• Freedom Package lithium power system
• Private-label builds for other RV brands

Milestones

1. 1978Company lineage traces back to the founding of Chariot Vans
2. 1992StarCraft and Imperial Vans join the company's lineage
3. 1998Elk Automotive founded, later part of the same lineage
4. 2000Midwest Automotive Designs established in Elkhart, IN, launching the Business Class and Weekender Sprinter conversions
5. 2001Debuted Sprinter-based conversions at the SEMA Show
6. 2017Acquired by REV Group (NYSE: REVG)