Britain’s biggest bus and coach manufacturer, Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), has formed a strategic alliance with New Flyer Industries Inc., North America’s leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses.
Under the terms of the joint venture ADL will undertake engineering, test and prototype development with New Flyer being responsible for sales, marketing, manufacturing and aftermarket support. Also being formulated is a contractual joint venture designed to target the medium-duty, low-floor bus sector in North America and to transform the segment with a range of light-weight, fuel efficient products based on ADL’s successful midibus range.
“They (New Flyer) are the biggest in North America with established channels to market and a sophisticated field support, parts and service network, perfectly complementing our unsurpassed design and engineering experience in the midi sector,” said ADL’s Chief Executive Officer Colin Robertson. “In the end it was a relatively straight-forward decision. We now look forward to working with New Flyer and, progressively, promoting light-weight, fuel efficient vehicles. I am sure we can do much together as we spread our wings in North America and further afield.”
“There is growing demand for around 1,000 light-weight medium duty buses designed and built to meet the needs of North American operators,” Robertson said. “This is a figure based on extensive research with New Flyer and transit operators, many of whom have made it clear that the transport landscape in the USA and Canada is ready for change.”
Robertson added that ADL engineers are now well advanced with plans to build the first vehicles designed and engineered specifically for North America. Prototypes will go into test programs shortly and the first models will be launched in 2013. The vehicles will ultimately be available with alternative propulsion systems – clean diesel, electric-hybrid and compressed natural gas.