TRUSSVILLE, Alabama -- McSweeney Holdings is expanding its reach into some of the world's most dangerous places in Africa and the Middle East, delivering custom vehicles equipped with armored plating, luxury appointments and sophisticated office technology to wealthy buyers.

The Trussville-based specialty vehicle manufacturer gets vehicles from manufacturers and outfits them with after-market touches and accessories.

For years, the company's bread-and-butter business has included performance off-road trucks with oversized tires, specialty paint jobs and other extra utilities, as well as executive transportation vans that are popular in Asia.

Early this year, its Southern Comfort Automotive division launched the Chevrolet Reaper, a 2014 Silverado pickup transformed into an off-road performance truck.

But about two years ago, McSweeney Holdings launched a new division, McSweeney Designs, that is developing partnerships with armored vehicle companies to meet a growing demand in conflict-ridden countries.

The worldwide luxury bulletproof vehicle market accounts for about 20,000 vehicles worth an estimated $6.8 billion annually, said Jeffrey Hunter, who oversees McSweeney Designs.

"We decided to pursue this as a main line of business," he said. "Our customers are typically expat executives working in dangerous regions of the world, high net worth individuals in those regions, and we've also delivered to North African presidents and senior level government officials."

About 80 percent of the business is export, he added, with hot spots that include countries in western, central and northern Africa, and the Middle East.

Many armored vehicle companies focus on the tactical side, giving McSweeney Designs an opportunity to bring its expertise in luxury and high-tech add-ons to the table.

The vehicles are built off of a variety of platforms, including Chevrolet Suburbans, Cadillac Escalades, and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter or GMC vans. It all depends on a customer's needs, along with road conditions and fuel availability in the target region.

And while luxury touches are important, that's not the main thing.

"It's all finely tailored and highly appointed, but it's also about the productivity side," Hunter said, citing available features such as real-time video conferencing, satellite uplink, broadband communications and other necessities of a mobile office.

"We are driven by what the customer needs, and often that is discretion," he continued. "They don't want the wrapping to be too ostentatious, so nobody knows really knows what's going on inside the vehicle."

The cost of the vehicles depends on the type of equipment involved and the level of luxury. They usually start at about $250,000 each and can run as high as $800,000.

Sometimes, the customers themselves travel to Alabama to tour the McSweeney Designs facility in Trussville, meet the build team and consult with the interior design department.

Other times, there are brokers involved, or the job is routed through the armored vehicle companies. McSweeney Designs also does some of the more precise aspects of the armoring process.

This year, the division is expected to produce about 60 vehicles. It's grown from a five-person boutique operation when it started to 12 employees now, and it's also expanding its design and engineering shop.

Meanwhile, overall employment at McSweeney Holdings is growing too, said Michael McSweeney, managing partner. The company has about 90 employees across all of its divisions, including 30 new ones so far this year.

Another division, Ideacraft Engineering, is working with boat manufacturers in Tennessee and Florida to design interiors and plastic parts for the marine industry.

And Southern Comfort Automotive is upfitting 150 to 160 vehicles, mainly trucks, per month for the U.S. market.

"As the automotive industry has continued to gain momentum, we've benefited from that," McSweeney said.