Hitting the Road in Style

By Julie Rawe

After Spartan Motors posted record first-quarter sales--which included a 65.7% jump in RV chassis sales over the same period last year--CEO John Sztykiel took a road trip from company headquarters in Charlotte, Mich., to meet and greet investors from Boston to Chicago. As his 41-footer swung (gingerly) through Manhattan, he spoke with TIME's Julie Rawe.

TIME Why aren't you behind the wheel?

JOHN SZTYKIEL The last time I drove a coach like this in a big city, I made a turn too tight and took out one of the light towers and put a nice 12-in. rip in the side wall.

TIME Then why make this road trip?

SZTYKIEL From an investor-relations perspective, people step inside and say, "Wow, it's not the motor home you saw in the movie Spaceballs. It's a lot nicer than that."

TIME Your sales have been doing well, so why doesn't your stock price seem to reflect that?

SZTYKIEL People perceive that as gas prices go up, then RV sales will drop off. But you don't buy one of these coaches [which cost $100,000 and up] if you're concerned about the price of the fuel. And because we're strictly focused on diesel, gas prices' going up forces people to look more at diesel because they know it has better fuel economy. Registrations for diesel motor homes are up 11% over last year, which was a 25-year high.

TIME Spartan also makes fire truck and ambulance chassis. Has the Department of Homeland Security been good to you?

SZTYKIEL The money allocated two to three years ago is just starting to filter down to the states where they're starting to spend it on fire trucks. But the same demographics that drive the RV business drive the ambulance industry. Eleven thousand Americans turn 50 every day. They're entering the core buying market for RVs. But this also means more of us are taking rides in ambulances.

TIME Since you have to be in Cleveland by 9 a.m. tomorrow, I take it this is where you'll be sleeping tonight?

SZTYKIEL We don't sleep in this thing because if you do that or use the toilet, you bring down the resale value [of this vehicle]. If it's a bathroom emergency, I don't care--go outside and get a ticket. I'll pay the $150 instead of losing the $5,000 in depreciated value.