This November, Direct4x4 are celebrating a glorious 25 years of excellence in the automotive and outdoor expedition industries. From humble beginnings, the business has blossomed into one of the UKs top suppliers of custom styling accessories and offroad overland camping gear for 4x4s, SUVs, pickup trucks and vans.
Chapter 1 - In the Beginning
Humble beginnings. In November 1997, Direct4x4 opened a small office/warehouse in Derby with just a tiny team of helpers and began trading stainless steel spare wheel covers for 4x4s and off-road vehicles on eBay. We even used to do custom printed wheel covers which were actually really popular at the time! After a while Direct4x4 moved into our most popular custom auto styling accessories; stainless steel side steps and we also branched out into stainless-steel bull bars and A-bars for 4x4s, vans and pickup trucks. Our stainless-steel accessory range expanded quite rapidly. Basically, if it shone, we had it!
As we continued to expand the running board and side bar range (styles and supported vehicles), in 2009, we opened a dedicated German store website, offering almost all of our products directly to the German and Austrian customer base.
Chapter 2 - The Great Outdoors
In the early 2010's we realised the emerging demand for overlanding, green laning and 4x4 off-road camping. We introduced our first vehicle roof top camping tents. We still sell the original model today in a range of colours. Interest in the concept of roof top tents grew rapidly so we added more and more product ranges to the Direct4x4 expedition range including foldout vehicle side awnings and expedition steel/aluminium roof racks.
The last 5 years has seen a definite surge in overlanding enthusiasts across Europe, staycations and outdoor nature holidays. As well as the ever-expanding range of custom auto styling accessories, we also continued to focus on the 4x4, van life and pickup truck overlanding communities, listening to their needs and desires and seeing if we could source/manufacture a product line-up to fill those gaps.
All of this extra (very large!) gear meant that we needed to move to bigger premises and in 2013 we moved to our current address with over 58,000 square feet of warehouse filled to the brim with around 10,000 SKUs for accessories, parts and camping equipment. We opened our popular showroom to help us show off our growing range of OE style and aftermarket side steps and trim and our high quality expedition gear in situ.
In 2016 we also launched a brand new website making it easier than ever to order our amazing accessories and with the new company logo that you see at the top of the page today! The website was refreshed and updated in 2018. Our team was also growing and we have made some great friends along the way. We proudly established ourselves as one of Europe's largest distributors of 4x4 and offroad accessories and equipment.
Chapter 3 - The Future
The last couple of years have been tough for everyone. But we have persevered and we will continue to move with the times and our community. We have new aftermarket side step styles for the latest electric model SUV's including the Audi Q4 e-tron, The Volkswagen ID range, the Skoda Enyaq and many more. We have a brand new website one the way which should make navigating our product line-ups and getting the help you need easier than it's ever been.
As well as our commitment to 4x4 drivers and van lifers everywhere, we will also be continuing to push more and more product ranges and options for pickup truck owners as more and more people turn to pickups for leisure as well as work.
We have also just launched our brand new venture: Direct4x4 Escapes. An off-road overland camping vehicle hire service so you can get away and test our products for yourselves to see if the overland life is for you. We currently have an old school Land Rover Defender 110 and an ultra-modern Ford Ranger Wildtrak, both fully kitted out with everything you need for an outdoor nature eco-tourist break in the Peak District or beyond. We are now taking bookings for Spring/Summer 2023!
This November we will also be attending our last show event of the year at the Great British Land Rover Show on Sunday 20th November at Stoneleigh please do come by and say hello if you're planning to visit!
To celebrate this amazing achievement and thank you all for your custom and support over the years, we're offering all of our newsletter subscribers £25 of their next website order over £200* by simply using the code included in our latest mail shot at checkout during the month of November.
Lots more to look forward to in the coming years so don't forget to follow us on social media using the links below to keep up to date with all of the latest offers and events!
Thanks again and have a great November!
The Direct4x4 Team.
1 comment
See you there guys.