Zach De Bernardi, CEO and founder of REO Industries, Inc. poses for a photo in his home office, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas area has seen its share of entrepreneurs who take on high-profile markets with new ideas that can disrupt established players. Zach De Bernardi wants to shake up one of the most iconic industries in America.
The North Texan has launched a company that’s working on a pickup truck that comes with needed basics but without the massive size of some of its forebears or the price. Already, De Bernardi’s efforts are sparking interest in the auto community, including early sign-ups.
It’s hardly a simple task to get something like this off the ground, much less making it successful. But De Bernardi sees a path forward, even if it isn’t for the faint of heart.
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“I’m not setting out to fail, but with this kind of thing, you can’t be afraid,” De Bernardi said. “If you’re afraid to lose, then you shouldn’t be permitted to win. So … you got to go for it.”
The company, called REO Industries, is making its push into the massive market with a practical truck slated to cost around $21,500, which draws some inspiration from Japan’s Kei car. The price tag could give it access to a wide swath of potential buyers even as it competes with the likes of Ford, GM and Toyota.
De Bernardi has been building his team, and in the fourth quarter, the production design and full lineup are set to be unveiled, the website shows. First deliveries are set for late 2028 or early 2029.
The company is taking reservations for the vehicles from interested parties at $25 a pop in chronological order, and REO already has attracted over 27,000, or over $600,000. He’s looking to do a sort of seed round to raise between $30 million and $50 million in the coming months. He’s put his own money into the company along with some other investors.
“Consumers are desperate for low-priced vehicles and love their pick-up trucks and Ford has seen success with its hybrid Maverick priced just under $30,000,” Brian Gordon, partner at Dave Cantin Group, an adviser to retail automotive dealers and the industry at large, said in an email. “On paper, for consumers, this is one of the most exciting new entrants out there.”
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‘Shake things up’
There is some precedence in Texas. Austin-based Tesla, while it began in California, has emerged as one of the most important brands in the U.S. in the industry. Toyota also has a strong presence in the state.
Some in the automobile press have taken notice of the North Texas startup. Lucas Bell, associate editor at Road & Track, pointed out in an article that there have been many companies that have tried and failed to make in the industry — while the writer still left room for REO’s potential.
“If it takes a startup to shake things up before we get any change, so be it,” the article said. “Look what happened when that other Texas-based automaker got some real momentum behind it.”
This is a Dallas-centric company, and De Bernardi is looking to set up its manufacturing in North Texas, and there are some potential spots he’s been mulling.
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“The conditions are perfect,” De Bernardi said. “We’re right in the center of the country. It’s D-FW. We all know how much it’s growing. So — want to do it here.”
A lifelong passion
De Bernardi grew up in the Carolinas, watching his dad update his vehicles, including domestic and foreign.
“As I grew, his hobby grew, and you know I’ve always loved it,” De Bernardi said.
De Bernardi moved to Dallas around 2013. and would later strike out with a real estate brokerage, Standard Real Estate. After roughly a decade, he sold his stake around 2025 to a business partner.
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Around that time, he went through what he called a midlife crisis, including starting a podcast “like everybody else,” he said. But after more than 50 episodes, he lost interest in that.
But there was always the longtime interest in vehicles. That’s included buying vehicles and fixing them up. He rebuilt a Toyota 4Runner almost entirely on his own, for example, and also finished what he called a tasteful upgrade on a Tacoma.
“It’s just been really one of my main obsessions,” De Bernardi said.
The effort with REO got under way around January, and the name he chose isn’t random. It’s historical.
In the early 1900s, Ransom E. Olds released a mass-produced car within Oldsmobile before leaving the company, according to the REO website. He would form a new company, and in 1915, the REO Speed Wagon arrived, an ancestor of the modern pickup.
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“I just felt that if I were to go down a car startup path that it needed to have a sense of heritage,” he said in an email. “The only car company that has been successful in the last century, in terms of startups, was Tesla. They had some heritage to pull from being electric and Tesla himself.”
Gas-powered
The pickup is set to be shorter than the Ford Maverick, which is a smaller option in the current U.S. market, but longer than the Slate, the EV pickup company that’s garnered some attention in the press.
Unlike Slate, REO will feature gas-powered engines. The goal is still around 25 miles to the gallon. Why? It’s proven technology, De Bernardi said, and gasoline still powers the vast majority of new vehicles today.
The Runabout T4X is the low-cost option in the lineup, coming with two seats and two doors. The sides are designed to drop down on the bed of the pickup giving it extra space for storage.
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Zach De Bernardi, CEO and founder of REO Industries, Inc. shows his website in his home office, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
It’s a “bare bones” vehicle, he said, while noting it’s still in accordance with federal safety standards. Air conditioning is a must, being in Texas. De Bernardi said there are more decisions to be made on how to keep its costs down.
“Is the radio going to be included? We don’t know yet,” he said. “We are not ruling that out.”
Aside from the T4X, the company is planning a crew cab truck that starts at $25,000. There’s also an SUV that starts at less than $29,000.
“REO has a lot of execution between here and a proposed launch … and no doubt new competition will be announced as well,” Gordon, of Dave Cantin Group, said. “Some of their future success falls outside their control.”
The company, for now, is leveraging the remote-work trend, and has about a dozen workers, including contractors. De Bernardi likes the team he’s assembled and the experience of the people for the company that’s building a truck that “America needs” but hasn’t been done yet.
“It has to kind of come from somebody that’s outside of the industry,” De Bernardi said. “There’s going to be a lot of things that we learn along the way.”