If you’re a business person in Mexico and travel a lot, these armored cars are not only an option, they’re becoming mandatory if you want to live.
It’s an unfortunate fact of everyday life in Mexico, but the warring factions between drug cartels have made it unbelievably dangerous for everyday citizens and people just trying to make a living. But because of these high-crime rates, there’s one industry that’s making a fortune on this unfortunate trend, armored cars. According to NBC Dallas Fort Worth on their report on these armored cars (Nov 21 2017), military cars once designed for the national army and government official are now being bought by ordinary citizens.
At least 40 percent of the vehicles that are built in EPEL — a manufacturing plant located in Mexico City — are designed for military use, however, 60 percent of them are purchased by civilians. This is an industry that is growing in the country at a rate of 20 percent each year.
One of the armored car makers quoted by the article, Blindakes Epel, lists a couple of used armored cars already for sale on their website. The prices are a bit surprising at first. How would you like to pay for a $180,000 2004 Nissan Maxima? Or how does a $420,000 2008 Lincoln Navigator sound?
Upon inspection of what actually goes into making these vehicles safe against gunfire and explosion, only then do we see why the prices are the way they are.
Take for example their new Chevrolet Suburban’s they have available. On the outside, they look like normal Suburbans, but on the inside, it’s further from the case. Every piece of the Suburban has been reinforced. Most of the body is now protected with a layer of 3/8 inch ballistic steel. According to Bulldog Direct, that’s enough to stop bullets from an AR-15 or less, probably the most popular weapons used by drug cartels. All that steel plating adds an additional 1,000-2,000 pounds to a stock vehicle.
In order to meet the demands of some customers without that big of a bank account, leasing options are available.
It’s a sad sign of the times for Mexico and hopefully, the country can deal with the roots of its problems before this armored car business booms even more.
