Overlanding Mainstay EarthCruiser Calls It Quits

The "featured classified" today on the overlanding community site Expeditionportal.com is a 2021 EarthCruiser FX, a go-anywhere lux RV built on the Mitsubishi Fuso 4×4 platform. With just 9300 miles on the clock, it could be yours for the low-low price of $300,000, which is essentially half the cost of a new one. Such a deal.

Elsewhere on the site, however, there is much ballyhoo about the company behind the beastly truck, EarthCruiser. Based in Bend, Oregon, since opening its doors in 2008, the firm quite suddenly announced last week that it was closing its doors, effective April 25. So, get 'em while you can, I guess?

In a release posted to the company's website, EarthCruiser stated that "changing market dynamics and economic challenges have made it increasingly difficult to sustain operations going forward." The high-end overlanding market has indeed changed, as the "Head for the hills!" panic buying that allowed well-heeled work-from-homers to commission exotic builds and then hit the road during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic has mostly disappeared.

Supply-chain issues have taken their toll on the business, as have the changing economics involved in the purchase of machines such as these; the pool of people willing to plunk down 20 percent with long-term (read: 20-year) financing at, say, 7 percent interest, on an overlanding house that depreciates faster than you can air down those 37-inch tires has become a much harder proposition. And, as with nearly every sector, costs are up. Except, in this particular sector, they're way, way up. In 2018, for example, a base EarthCruiser FX started at $255,000. By 2024, the starting price was $595,000. The Ford F-350-based Terranova model, meanwhile, once around $100,000 now starts at $350,000.

"Our journey over the past years has been extraordinary," company founder Lance Gillies said in the release. "Although this decision marks the end of an era, we are proud of our legacy and impact on the world of travel, automotive innovation, and overlanding. We hope our vehicles, our customers, and their stories will continue to inspire the adventurous spirit in all of us."

EarthCruiser is not the only name in this space, of course, with dozens of niche manufacturers doing their best to cater to the existing customer base and adapt to the way it has changed, particularly as used vehicles at big discounts continue to flood the market. It will be interesting to see whether more dominoes fall as this segment continues to contract.