Company plans to deliver 100 new converted Sparks over next three months to 25 markets nationwide. Each has a warming oven and can hold up to 80 pizzas.


The stale image of a run-down pizza delivery car is getting warmed up at Domino's.

The Ann Arbor-based pizza chain and food delivery company on Wednesday unveiled a retrofitted subcompact named DXP after a code for its delivery driving "experts." It is designed to keep 80 pizzas warm from store to door.

The cost for a DXP is estimated between $20,000 and $25,000 apiece for a franchise with the company footing the bill for the engineering costs behind the project.

Officials did not say how many they hoped to sell beyond an initial order of about 100, largely to franchise owners. The market could be relatively substantial, with 100,000 people delivering Domino's pizzas every week, according to company officials.

The customized car is a bid to improve the way the company delivers its prepared food and boost branding power on the roads without building its own car from scratch.

"This is not a gimmick," Russell Weiner, president of Domino’s USA, said at an event at the company's sprawling headquarters campus about 40 miles outside Detroit to launch the DXP. "This is not the Oscar Mayer  Wienermobile."

The global pizza maker started with a Chevy Spark subcompact that was stripped of all but the driver's seat and outfitted by Domino's with pizza-centric gadgets. Among them: A warming oven that can reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit is located behind the driver’s door and is accessible through an exterior door by pushing a key fob. One car can hold 80 pizzas.

But "it's not a Barbie easy-bake oven," Weiner said.

Executives called the newly designed cars a test for select U.S. markets that could expand depending on the interest of its franchise owners.

Pizza delivery represents roughly two-thirds of Domino’s business, which is the second largest pizza chain behind Pizza Hut. Founded in 1960, Domino’s now delivers about 400 million pizzas a year, and its delivery drivers cover roughly 10 million miles a week in the U.S. alone.

Hundreds of concepts submitted by designers through an online crowdsourcing competition influenced the final vehicle makeup. Some of the features that made the cut after the 10-month-long process include a company-branded roof light known as a car topper, hubcaps adorned with the Domino's logo, and a puddle spotlight to project the company's logo onto the nearby ground, officials said.

The cars' color scheme will match the company's: red, white and blue. And the styling is cheeky. The warming oven door warns of "hot contents inside" and the gas tank cap cautions, "Unleaded fuel only. No pizza sauce."

Domino’s worked with Livonia-based automotive supplier Roush Enterprises to convert the Sparks and now plans to deliver about 100 of them to 25 markets across the U.S. over the next three months. Chevrolet dealers will also work to service and promote the delivery cars once they arrive.

The vehicles are expected to have a life span between three and five years and will be stripped of their branding after that period

The company explored, but ultimately passed on, an idea to roll out an electric vehicle fleet. Executives concluded that the limited number of vehicles would be too busy to take time out to recharge, but they did not rule out future use of electric-powered vehicles.

Domino's operates 12,100 stores in more than 80 countries around the world, including more than 5,000 in the U.S. More than half of Domino's sales now come from outside the U.S.

The company has posted growth in recent years, generally outpacing its major competitors in both the U.S. and foreign markets.

Domino’s had global retail sales of more than $8.9 billion in 2014, including more than $4.1 billion in the U.S. and nearly $4.8 billion internationally.

In the third quarter of 2015, Domino’s had global retail sales of more than $2.1 billion, about evenly split between the U.S. and overseas markets. Revenues in the third quarter this year were up 8.5% for the third quarter compared with the prior year.

Even with the introduction of the DXP onto America's roadways, the image of the aging pizza delivery car may not be completely gone, at least in the short term.

Domino’s deliveries, according to Weiner, will still primarily be made by drivers using their own cars and trucks for the near future.


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