CHARLOTTE, Mich., May 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Spartan
Specialty Chassis and Vehicles, a business unit of Spartan Motors,
Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAR) ("Spartan" or the "Company"), announced
today it has entered into an exclusive U.S.-based assembly
agreement with Grande West Transportation Group Inc. (TSXV:
BUS)(OTC PINK: GWTNF), a Canadian bus manufacturer that designs,
engineers, and manufactures purpose-built mid-size buses for
transit authorities and commercial enterprises.
Under terms of the contract, Spartan will manufacture
Grande West's Vicinity model buses,
which will continue to satisfy the Federal Transit Administration's
(FTA) Buy America requirements and reduce potential tariff
exposures. The Grande West Vicinity bus achieved best-in-class
results from the FTA Model Bus Testing Program, which measures
structural durability and integrity, reliability, performance,
maintainability, safety, noise, and fuel economy.
"This contract is a tremendous opportunity for Spartan to
utilize our highly talented team and best-in-class facilities and
processes to enter into a new sector of vehicle manufacturing,"
said Steve Guillaume, President of
Spartan Specialty Vehicles. "This partnership is a great fit for
both companies as it leverages Spartan's efficient and high-quality
American manufacturing capability to support Grande West's continued U.S. growth."
Grande West's Vicinity bus is the
leading heavy-duty mid-size, true community transit bus that
operates in many municipalities across Canada. The Vicinity bus costs significantly
less than a traditional 40-foot bus and is considerably more
durable than cut-away buses with truck chassis bases. Poised for
success in a largely unsaturated market, Grande West hopes to capitalize on growth from
replacing cut-away buses and filling the need for an appropriately
sized transit fleet in metro areas across Canada and the U.S.
"We are proud to partner with Spartan, the North American leader
in specialty vehicle manufacturing and assembly," said Jean-Marc Landry, Chief Executive Officer of
Grande West. "Through this
agreement, we now have the production capacity and partnerships in
place to accelerate our U.S. and Canadian market growth
initiatives. The combination of Spartan's well-established and
skilled manufacturing team along with its competitive production
cost profile enables us to streamline our assembly processes and
leverage purchasing efficiencies."
To find out more about the Vicinity bus in the U.S., visit
https://grandewest.com/index.php/vicinity-usa. To learn more about
Spartan's chassis and vehicle manufacturing capabilities, visit
https://www.spartanmotors.com/.
About Spartan Motors
Spartan Motors, Inc. is the North
American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing and assembly for
the commercial and retail vehicle industries (including last-mile
delivery, specialty service, and vocation-specific upfit segments),
as well as for the emergency response and recreational vehicle
markets. The Company is organized into three core business
segments, including Spartan Fleet Vehicles and Services, Spartan
Emergency Response, and Spartan Specialty Vehicles. Today,
its family of brands also include Spartan Authorized Parts, Spartan
Factory Service Centers, Utilimaster®, Strobes-R-Us™, Smeal, Ladder
Tower™, and UST®. Spartan
Motors and its go-to-market brands are well known in their
respective industries for quality, durability, aftermarket product
support, and first-to-market innovation. The Company employs
approximately 2,300 associates, and operates facilities in
Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, Florida,
Missouri, Nebraska, South
Dakota; Saltillo, Mexico;
and Lima, Peru. Spartan reported
sales of $816 million in 2018.
Learn more about Spartan Motors at www.spartanmotors.com.
About Grande West Transportation Group
Grande West is a Canadian company that designs,
engineers and manufactures mid-size multi-purpose transit vehicles
for public and commercial enterprises. Grande West's Best-in-Class heavy-duty Vicinity
bus is available in 27.5, 30 and 35 foot models powered by clean
diesel or CNG designed with affordability, accessibility and global
responsibility in mind. It costs significantly less than a regular
40 foot transit bus, is more maneuverable, burns less fuel and
emits less harmful emissions. Grande
West will soon be offering a new product which will be the
first Crossover Vehicle in the transit space - a medium-duty,
monocoque-designed rear engine vehicle.
The Company has been successful in supplying Canadian municipal
transportation agencies and private operators with new buses and is
receiving follow-on orders in many Canadian transit agencies.
Grande West is compliant to Buy
America certification, and is actively pursuing opportunities in
public and private transit fleet operations that would benefit from
Grande West's vehicles.
CONTACT:
Samara
Hamilton – Corporate Director of Marketing and
Communications
Spartan Motors, Inc.
517.997.3860
Samara.Hamilton@spartanmotors.com
Matt Jackson – Managing
Partner
Lambert & Company
616.233.0500
mjackson@lambert.com
John LaGourgue – Vice President,
Corporate Development
Grande West
604.607.4000
jlagourgue@GrandeWest.com
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SOURCE Spartan Motors, Inc.