For several days in early March, automakers and limousine operators gathered at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for the annual convention, where they attended panels and parties to admire the shiny new party buses, vans and black sport utility vehicles. bottom.
But something was missing.
“There were no stretch limousines on the show floor,” said Robert Alexander, president of the National Limousine Association, an industry group. “No 1.”
Decades ago, stretch limousines were a symbol of affluence used only by the rich and famous. Over time, they became a more common luxury, booked by teenagers heading to children’s birthday parties and proms.
These days, it seems that few people get on a limousine at once. The limousine name has stuck, but the limousine industry has moved to chauffeur service in almost everything but actual stretch limousines, giving way to his black SUVs, buses and vans.
“The limousine business is no longer your father’s limousine business,” Alexander said.
Stretch limousines now make up less than 1% of the services offered by limousine companies, down from about 10% a decade ago, according to the association.
“What’s a stretch limo called? — It’s become like a dodo bird,” Mr. Alexander said. “extinction.”
Limousine company executives and industry leaders say the demise of stretch limousines may be due to the cumulative effects of a series of blows over several years.
At first, they said, it was the Great Recession. Then came the rise of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, and the introduction of new regulations in one of the industry’s most important markets, New York State, where he had two fatal stretch limousine accidents. Meanwhile, stretch limousines slowly fell out of favor as passengers opted to travel less conspicuously in sleek sedans and black SUVs.
Horse Carriage to Hummer Limousine
The birthplace of stretch limousines is believed to be Fort Smith, Arkansas, a coach builder that began with horse-drawn carriage restoration over 100 years ago. By 1985, the company was one of the leading limousine manufacturers in the United States, producing approximately 1,000 limousines annually.
But around that time, many car companies stopped making limousines. A specialist coachmaker filled that gap by taking a different approach of cutting the sedan in half, inserting the midsection, and welding everything together. For around $50,000, the custom maker promised a lavish result that included a TV and bed in addition to the obligatory well-stocked bar.
As more limousines were produced, they became more accessible and began to attract customers beyond celebrities and the ultra-rich.People began booking them for airport travel.New Jersey A restaurant offered to pick up guests in a limousine, drive them to dinner, and then drive them home. And for some suburban teenagers, loading into a stretch limousine during prom season has become a rite of passage, trying to sneak booze past drivers who are forced into the role of reluctant chaperones. often with mixed results.
“In the best-case scenario, someone will use you all day, say, to a conference in Manhattan,” Alexander said, adding that the driver would take the client to a hotel to freshen up and then whisk the customer. I added that I could go back to town. “It coincided with a time when the city’s nightlife was booming from the late ’70s into his ’80s,” he said.
Limousine operators like Scott Woodruff, President and CEO of Majestic Limousine & Coach in Des Moines, have made adjustments to meet the growing demand. By the early 2000s, Hummer had his limousines on for the first time, partying his bus benches, an era when he was cheating with seats, TVs and minibars, stretching about a quarter of his fleet of vehicles. His limousine occupied.
“Every year you see limousines getting bigger and bigger,” Woodruff said.
Chuck Cotton, who owns VIP Limo in Oklahoma and has been in the business for more than 30 years, said his fleet at peak times was 35 stretch limousines, six party buses and four Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans. So I was able to carry about 12 people.
Then, in 2008, the housing market crashed, beginning the longest and sharpest recession since the Great Depression and beginning the end of the stretch limousine.
Recession, ride sharing, regulation
The recession has forced businesses to cut spending and cut workers. Demand for stretch limousines plummeted as unemployment and gas prices skyrocketed.
“The market has collapsed,” said Alexander of the National Limousine Association.
When Uber was founded in 2009, the country was still in the midst of a recession. In 2012 its main competitor, his Lyft, came along and together they rocked the taxi industry, making chauffeured black cars more accessible.
Mr. Alexander said of the ride-hailing service:
“When the stretch is over, everyone turns around to see who’s getting in and out,” Rose said.His customers these days prefer a black sedan or his SUV discretion
Limousine industry today
The demand for stretch limousines isn’t as great as it was in the 1980s and early 2000s, but the limousine industry is thriving. It just looks different now.
In addition to the shift towards sedans and SUVs, the industry is adopting sprinter vans and party buses. Barbara White, co-owner and chief financial officer of the VIP Transportation Group in Orlando, Fla., said her business has stretched in recent years, selling two of her limousines and replacing one with a Sprinter van. Told. White’s company, whose fleet includes buses, sedans and SUVs, provides more than 1,000 rides a year, mostly for weddings, she said.
Matthew Dows, an attorney and former commissioner and chairman of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, said buses and vans look like the future of the limousine industry.
“They’re going to be more sophisticated on the inside, but they’re probably going to stay nice and unremarkable on the outside,” Douss said. We have recovered from the crisis and are focusing on the large bus and charter industries.”
But it looks like the stretch days are coming to an end.
Rhodes said his company in Queens used four stretch limousines for about 30 vehicles. Today, Attitude’s garage has sedans and his SUVs, including Lexus and Cadillac, his Escalade, but none of his stretch limousines. He sold his last one eight years ago.
“The two years before that were pretty much paperweight,” he said.
