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New Flyer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the manufacturer and brand. For the parent company of several bus manufacturers, seeNFI Group.
New Flyer Industries
FormerlyWestern Auto and Truck Body Works (1930–1948)
Western Flyer Coach (1948–1971)
Flyer Industries Limited (1971–1986)
New Flyer Industries Limited (1986–2005)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryBus manufacturing
Founded1930(1930)(asWestern Auto and Truck Body Works Ltd)
FounderJohn Coval
Headquarters
Winnipeg,Manitoba
,
Canada
Area served
North America
ParentNFI Group
Websitenewflyer

New Flyeris a Canadian multinationalbus manufacturer,specializing in the production oftransit buses.New Flyer is owned by theNFI Group,a holding company for several bus manufacturers. New Flyer has several manufacturing facilities in Canada and the United States that produce the company's main product, theNew Flyer Xcelsiorfamily of buses.

History

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1941 Western Flyer

New Flyer was founded by John Coval in 1930 as theWestern Auto and Truck Body Works Ltdin Manitoba. The company began producing buses in 1937, selling their first full buses to Grey Goose Bus Lines in 1937,[1]before releasing their Western Flyer bus model in 1941, prompting the company to change its name toWestern Flyer Coachin 1948.[2]

In the 1960s, the company further focused on theurban transitbus market. In 1971, the then-financially struggling Western Flyer was sold to the Manitoba Development Corporation, an agency of the government ofManitoba,and renamedFlyer Industries Limited.[3]In 1974 the oppositionProgressive Conservative Party of Manitobahad urged theNDPgovernment in power to divest Flyer Industries from government ownership.[4]

On July 15, 1986, Jan den Oudsten, a descendant of the family who formed Dutch bus manufacturerDen Oudsten Bussen BV,purchased Flyer Industries from the Manitoba government, changing its name toNew Flyer Industries Limited.[5]

New Flyer designed and tested North America's firstlow-floor busin 1988 and delivered the first production model, called the D40LF, to thePort Authority of New York and New Jerseyin 1991.[6]In 1994, New Flyer delivered the firstcompressed natural gasbus in North America and the world's firsthydrogen fuel cellpowered bus. In 1995, the company delivered the first low-floorarticulated busin North America toStrathcona County Transit.

In March 2002, New Flyer was acquired byKPS Capital Partners,an investment company that specializes in turning around struggling businesses, for $44 million.[7]Later that year Jan den Oudsten retired as CEO. He was later inducted into theAmerican Public Transportation Association's Hall of Fame for his work at the company.

In 2003,King County MetroinSeattleplaced an order for 213 hybrid buses, the world's first large order for hybrid buses.[8]

On December 15, 2003, New Flyer was purchased byprivate equityfirmsHarvest PartnersandLightyear Capital.The company's CEO, John Marinucci, called the purchase an indicator that the company's operational and financial turnaround had been accomplished.[9]

On August 19, 2005, New Flyer became apublicly traded companyon theToronto Stock Exchange,renaming the company toNew Flyer Industries Canada ULCand creating the publicly traded parent companyNFI Group Inc.[10][11]2005 also saw a restyling of New Flyer's popular low-floor coaches with new front and rear endcaps, to modernize and streamline the exterior appearance of the bus.

In June 2012 New Flyer, in a joint venture withMitsubishi Heavy Industries,theManitobaGovernment,Manitoba HydroandRed River College,unveiled afully electric battery-powered bus.[12]

In May 2012, New Flyer andAlexander Dennisannounced ajoint ventureto design and manufacture medium-duty low-floor bus (or midi bus) for the North American market. The bus, called the New Flyer MiDi, was based on the design of theAlexander Dennis Enviro200.Alexander Dennis engineered and tested the bus, and it was built and marketed by New Flyer under contract.[13]During the partnership around 200 buses were delivered to 22 operators in Canada and the U.S. In May 2017, New Flyer and Alexander Dennis announced their joint venture would end and production of the bus would transition to Alexander Dennis' new North American factory in Indiana, where it is produced alongside the double-deckEnviro500series bus.[14][15]Alexander Dennis was later purchased by New Flyer's parent company, NFI Group, in 2019.[16]

Models

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Model Length Width Introduced Discontinued Image
Xcelsior[17] 35 ft (10.7 m)
40 ft (12.2 m)
60 ft (18.3 m) 		102 in (2.6 m)
2008
 in production
Low Floor 30 ft 6 in (9.3 m)
35 ft 6 in (10.8 m)
40 ft10+1⁄4in (12.5 m)
60 ft8+1⁄2in (18.5 m) 		102 in (2.6 m)
1989
2014
Invero[18] 41 ft 3 in (12.6 m) 102 in (2.6 m)
2002
2007
High Floor[19] 35 ft 3 in (10.7 m)
40 ft6+1⁄4in (12.4 m)
60 ft 8 in (18.5 m) 		102 in (2.6 m)
1987
2006
700/800/900 35 ft (10.7 m)
40 ft (12.2 m) 		96 in (2.4 m)
102 in (2.6 m)
1967
1987

References

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  1. ^Modified, Julia-Simone Rutgers Posted: Last."Country's leading electric bus maker hopes to ride wave of zero-emission transit technology".Winnipeg Free Press.Retrieved2022-08-23.
  2. ^"Coachbult - Western Auto & Truck Body Works".coachbuilt.Retrieved2021-01-16.
  3. ^Stauss, Ed (1988).The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses.Woodland Hills, CA (USA): Stauss Publications.ISBN0-9619830-0-0.
  4. ^"Sell Bus Company, PCs Urge Gov't".Winnipeg Free Press.October 24, 1974. p. 3.
  5. ^Barker, John."Mayor takes a look at New Flyer Industries for city buses".Thompson Citizen.Retrieved2021-01-16.
  6. ^"New Flyer - History".newflyer.Retrieved2017-08-09.
  7. ^"N.Y investors buy Manitoba bus maker".CBC News.Dec 16, 2003.RetrievedJanuary 15,2021.
  8. ^"New Flyer Receives Order for Up To 715 Buses From King County Metro"(Press release). New Flyer Industries Inc. May 16, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon August 12, 2007.Retrieved2017-07-13.
  9. ^"Harvest, Lightyear Drive Through New Flyer LBO".Global Capital.19 March 2004.Retrieved16 November2020.
  10. ^"New Flyer Industries Canada ULC was Incorporated in Alberta on Jun 22, 2005. at 4500, 855 - 2ND STREET SW, CALGARY ALBERTA, T2P 4K7".Alberta Corporations.Retrieved2021-01-16.
  11. ^"MRAS Business Registry Search".beta.canadasbusinessregistries.ca.Retrieved2021-01-16.
  12. ^Kusch, Larry (June 2, 2012)."New Flyer green leader".Winnipeg Free Press.Retrieved2017-07-13.
  13. ^"Industry News: New Flyer In Bus Joint Venture".Diesel Progress.Waukesha, Wisconsin. May 10, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon May 31, 2012.
  14. ^"New Flyer and Alexander Dennis Agree to Transition MiDi Bus to North American-Based Alexander Dennis Inc".New Flyer. May 10, 2017.RetrievedMay 26,2017.
  15. ^Enviro200 joint venture terminatesBusesissue 748 July 2017 page 21
  16. ^"NFI Group Inc. Announces Acquisition of Alexander Dennis Limited".Business Insider.May 28, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on December 6, 2021.Retrieved2023-03-13.
  17. ^"Xcelsior".New Flyer | North America’s Bus Leader.Retrieved2021-01-16.
  18. ^"D40i = Diesel 40' Invero™"(PDF).New Flyer Industries. September 2002. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on June 13, 2004.RetrievedDecember 13,2018.
  19. ^"New Flyer D40 High Floor Bus".New Flyer Industries. Archived fromthe originalon 11 April 1997.
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