Micro Van Camper Builder Cascade finds creative ways to remain profitable!

My last post was rather dismal in sharing bad news that Ram, Ford, Nissan, and Mercedes are discontinuing the manufacturing & sales of micro cargo vans; specifically the smaller Ram Promaster City, Ford Transit Connect, Nissan NV200 and Mercedes Metris gasoline models. Ram Promaster City vans are currently being replaced with electric Fiat Doblo versions in Europe only: https://www.motortrend.com/features/2024-fiat-doblo-ram-promaster-city-cargo-van-ev/amp/

Electric powered vans may work for city commuters, small businesses, and Tradespeople who have access to charging stations. And can tolerate the 200 miles or less daily driving range of electric vehicles before recharging is needed.

Automotive News reported that Ford, Nissan and Mercedes are eliminating their gasoline small cargo vans due to low sales. But are retooling for electric versions which will be more costly with less driving range. This makes no common sense. So logic would dictate in 2023, the value of my 2020 Ram Promaster City Cascade camper van would plummet in monetary value. However, the opposite has occurred. Prices have increased because of “inflation”. Cascade knows they will have to redesign some or all of their camper conversion package (if possible) to accommodate the lithium batteries needed for electric vans. In the interim, Cascade has found creative ways to stay profitable at their Nevada City California location.

Kitchen Pod for Sprinter Vans

Cascade is now offering a self-contained kitchen pod for sprinter vans. Their $1950 USD pod is specifically designed for mid-size and full-size vans. They do not offer a kitchen pod configuration for micro vans. Here is the website link if you’re interested in purchasing one: https://www.cascadecampers.com/kitchenpod

PMC Cascade Camper Van Rentals

Cascade Rental Partnership

https://www.cascadecampers.com/campervan-rentals

How to purchase a new or resale Cascade camper van for rental partnership and/or personal usage

Cascade has cleverly allowed current owners to advertise used Cascade camper vans for sale on their website. This is an indigenous way to circulate previous builds while keeping their business endeavors profitable.

Cascade will continue to convert empty Ram PMC cargo vans into micro campers in 2023. But this will eventually end for the gasoline powered Ram PMC cargo vans if they become too old and/or a safety risk for Cascade camper conversion (2015-2022 PMC’s).

Note: 2022 was the last year of Ram PMC production in Turkey with assemblies in the United States.

Cascade has also made improvements to their camper conversion package which now costs $9800 plus California sales tax. Still a huge bargain for what they offer.

Here is a features link of everything you get for $9800 in 2023. Note: California sales tax is not included in this price. Plus you must drive your empty PMC cargo van (2015-2022 Tradesman cargo only) to their build facility near Grass Valley California. It takes one day (8 hours) to convert it into a camper van. They only build on the Ram Promaster City platform. No other requests will be granted. https://www.cascadecampers.com/campervan-features#

Availability of resale gas powered, Cascade Camper Vans

As I predicted 2 years ago, when gasoline prices rose to over $3.00 USD per gallon, the bigger camper vans & RVs will travel less as prices increase. Meanwhile, I get 30 miles per gallon (highway) for my PMC Cascade Camper Van! I’m now retired and not driving to work each day. Which explains my low odometer reading. Before I provide the web link of advertised (resale) Cascade Camper vans…I have one small request. If you buy a used one, let the PMC Cascade current owner know you saw the resale information link on my blog (microvanlife.com).

I now have a favorite, new webpage: The Cascade Camper resale & sold listings. I cannot believe how much these micro vans are selling for used! I invested $38K in my brand new Cascade camper van in November 2020, build #167 including extra options. With less than 11K current mileage on the odometer, I could probably sell it to a third party for more $ than originally invested. Consumer demand & inflation have increased, not decreased!

PMC Cascade Camper Vans – Resale Marketplace

One of many resale listings

I picked the above listing (on 1/27/23) to highlight Cascade camper van resales currently available for purchase. It visually illustrates the monetary value maintained after purchasing a Cascade conversion package three years ago! Just like the older, Volkswagen Westfalia camper vans of yesteryear, I anticipate the same consumer desirability & resale longevity for Cascade camper vans. Anyone else think differently?

Cascade Camper Resale & Sold listings link: https://www.cascadecampers.com/campervans-for-sale

As an extra bonus, the above link shows Cascade Camper Vans SOLD at the bottom of the webpage. Seeing is believing!

Please leave a comment or “Thanks” if you personally benefitted from reading this blog. Written gratitude goes a long way for me as the sole writer & owner of this freely accessible, website location (self-paid to publish/maintain on a yearly basis). I really enjoy seeing different countries in my daily statistics of blog visitors!