Bring over a van and come pick up an RV in two weeks! – Family company from Jagodina finds the formula for entering the European market

Even if you are not fan of the shows “Overhaulin’” or “Pimp My Ride” and similar shows, you must have at least once, while channel-surfing, run into a show about American car shops where somebody brings over an old vehicle and later on leaves with a customized car, van or some other vehicle – adapted to the needs and tastes of the customer. One such workshop, you should know, exists in Serbia as well, and it is located in Jagodina, except that, at this workshop, the owners drive over a van or a truck and drive off with a smaller or bigger RV.



He first made one for himself, and then ended up in Austria

And, as is often the case with good entrepreneurial stories, it all started almost by accident. Nine years ago, Goran Obrenovic (42) from Jagodina, a caterer by progression, and also a fan of motorcycles, nature and sleeping under an open sky, wanted to make an RV for himself and his family. At that moment, he was selling mobile phones for a living, and as a hobby, his whole life he had liked restoring old vehicles. At one point, he decided to go to Germany and buy himself a van and create an RV. He had learned how to do that mostly on YouTube, because, as he says for eKapija, everything can be found there if you know where to look. Later on, when he had already decided to go into that business, he also attended RV fairs in Germany and Austria and watched others do it.



– Me and my cousin worked on that RV for around 3 months. And when we made it, it was sold in Austria, because my godbrother believed that we could sell it well. My cousin and I maybe earned 5-6 thousand euros for three months of work there. And then after that, my friend Peca, who is now the head person in my garage, and I made a second one and then that second one was sold as well. Already then, I realized that that’s what I’ll do exclusively, and my cousin continued out mobile phone business. At the beginning, we did everything ourselves, except that, of course, for the jobs I didn’t know how to do, I had hired those who did, and today we have an electrician, a carpenter, a mechanic, an upholsterer… – Goran says in his interview for eKapija.

Since 2015, when he started this business, Goran doesn’t know how many RVs they have sold. They worked on the first two for three months each, and then, as the staff at his workshop, and now the company GMW Campers, increased, the time needed for one vehicle shortened. Today, it takes two to three weeks for them to finish a vehicle – two for smaller vans, three for bigger ones. Initially, he would import vans for these purposes, but since 2017, he has been working exclusively with vehicles brought over by the customers. And, as he says, the customers mostly learn about him “from mouth to mouth”.

Around 200 GMW RVs cruising all over Europe

– Those are usually experienced campers who meet other campers on their trips, usually during the summer. Then they share their experiences with each other and make recommendations to each other. Now there are already around 200 of our vehicles in Europe – Goran says.

Among the customers, there are those who know what they want, those who are experienced campers who know what kind of a vehicle they need, but there are also those who don’t, so there are some limitations there.

– We are not allowed to change anything on the vehicle body, and such things dictate the arrangement and then people who don’t know that come up with one thing, and in reality, it has to be something else. Otherwise, it couldn’t be registered or certified – says Goran and notes that, until the coronavirus, they mostly did RVs for foreigners, and since 2020, there have been more and more local people turning to this type of vacation and, with that, this type of vehicle.

One of the facilities that has paved the way for this kind of business in Serbia is that it is now easier to get a certification in Serbia. As he says, before, the procedure was so complicated that it looked more like a way was being sought to reject the certification than to approve it.

– Now the procedure deserves every praise it can get. Even when something is not right, the competent institutions try to help with advice to make something better and to finally enable the certification – says Goran.

Couple sells company and gets ready for a trip around the world

And as for the local customers, Goran recently worked on a truck with his colleagues at GMW Campers, a large one of 18 tons, for a retired married couple from Novi Sad, whose children have earned their degrees and moved abroad, while they have decided to sell their private company, get themselves an RV and go on “a trip around the world.”



Goran says that he has heard about several such companies or individuals in Serbia, but here, in our country, RVs are made and then sold in the West. Goran is often visited by individuals who want to make something themselves, so they are looking around, and then Goran welcomes them and offers advice when it comes to the work and the equipment.

– Today, people do plenty of such remakes, there are good jobs being done, but also the other kind. In any case, it’s the easiest when the client is an experienced camper who knows their needs, knows what kind of equipment they need, which makes the realization that much easier – says Goran.

When campers need more length…

As he further says, sometimes his remake services are sought by people who can’t buy the factory-produced vehicle that suits them. For example, right at this moment, they are working on an RV for a family of four, all of whose members are over 190 cm tall. They couldn’t find an RV with 4 beds that suit their height. Usually, in RVs for four persons, there are two large and two smaller beds for children. Sometimes, individuals who want an RV just for one person opt for a customized RV. Sometimes it’s hunters who need special compartments for their arms, sometimes it’s dog owners who want their pet to have a safe corner in the RV etc. Sometimes the clients are IT workers who want, for example, a RV with a comfortable seat for everyday work and a large work desk. The reasons are numerous.

And as for the price, according to Goran, since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the costs of the preparation of such vehicles have jumped significantly – they have nearly doubled – because of the equipment price jump.

– Back in the day, it took EUR 4,000 to remake a smaller van, and now it takes around 7,000-8,000. And for larger vans, for 4 persons, whose remake once cost around 6-7 thousand, now it’s 15,000 and up, including the full equipment, the shower stall, the fridge, the AC, the solar panels and other things. Of course, it all depends on the needs and the necessary equipment for the client. The most expensive vehicle I have worked on is precisely the truck for those people from Novi Sad I mentioned, a retired married couple, who have, including all the equipment, some of which they’ve procured themselves, invested around EUR 75,000 in it – adds Goran.

He says that he always explains to his clients that they shouldn’t invest too much in a vehicle that is not good from the start. Sometimes, as he says, people are not even aware of how bad their vehicle is before they bring it over to him, and there are also those who drive over a new van.

– Sometimes, people are attached to a vehicle, so they want to have work done on it nonetheless. Even I invested in my old-timer more than it’s worth, but I love it, it’s precious to me – adds our interviewee.

Son to continue family business

And it is precisely that vehicle, of all the ones he has made, that is the only one that Goran has kept for himself. Although it might seem that, given the amount of work, he has no time to enjoy it, he still manages to find time for himself and his family in the year. The most recent one he would like to highlight as being worth every penny was a trip to Paris – the French Riviera, Marseille, the Alps, Switzerland, the trip back across Austria and Graz. Considering that, in his time, as a motorcycle rider, he would go to Africa, he would like to repeat that experience, but with an RV and for a longer period of time. As he says, something like that would require some three months. He admits that he would also like to see Asia, but he doesn’t have that much free time yet. Luckily, his son, Vuk, decided, after finishing high school, to join him in his family business, so the business will remain in the family. Although both his son, Vuk, and his daughter, Mia, graduated from the Medical Vocational High School and his daughter has continued her studies in the same field, Vuk has, for now, chosen to remain in the family business. His wife, Vera, has her own cosmetics business, but when Goran announces a vacation, she also puts her enterprise on hold and they all go to new, unexplored places.

And after such experiences of people from Novi Sad, Jagodina and who knows where else, who have been Goran’s customers-campers, who wouldn’t join them on such a vacation…?

Danijela Stanimirovic-Gavrilov

Goran Obrenović pr GMW CAMPERS Jagodina

GMW Campers

Pogon za izradu kampera GMW Campers Jagodina

Goran Obrenović

making of RVs

remaking of vans

remaking of trucks

camping

camping vehicles

customized vehicles