The stated mission of REV Group, headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, is to connect and protect passengers worldwide with dependable, trusted specialty vehicles delivering top-level performance, durability and safety. Per REV Group CEO Tim Sullivan, the company accomplishes its mission by taking full advantage of its diverse portfolio of vehicles.
“REV’s strength lies in its size,” Sullivan says. “We’ve been able to consolidate across specialty vehicle industries, including bus, which has many benefits – design, engineering and large purchasing power – that reach our customers in the form of value and benefits.”
REV has 30 brands in its portfolio (eight within the REV Bus brand) with 21 world-class manufacturing locations spread throughout the United States. Many of these brands hold the top market-share position in their core market. REV annually produces over 20,000 vehicles and has more than 250,000 vehicles on the road today.
What sets REV apart
Sullivan says some meaningful factors set REV apart from its competition in the specialty vehicles market.
Operational excellence
REV is an experienced engineering and manufacturing company with more than 7,400 skilled employees who innovate, design and build specialty vehicles that connect and protect thousands of people every day.
A passion to innovate
Sullivan says the company’s culture fosters continuous improvement, operational excellence and innovative products.
“The size of our company allows us access to capital for research, development and innovation,” Sullivan says. “Many of the smaller companies which REV has acquired had previous issues accessing the amount of capital which we can now provide.”
Customer focus
“We listen to our customers, understand their challenges and launch new vehicles designed to meet their goals,” Sullivan says.
To that end, the company says REV Solutions is the definitive resource for customers’ specialty vehicle needs. Thanks to its extensive dealer network, financial services and rental solutions, downtime is minimal. With REV’s experienced technicians, parts support and customer care program, the company can offer a “one-stop shop” for vehicle solutions.
International presence
REV builds and markets vehicles in North America and Brazil. In addition, the company distributes ambulances, fire apparatus and terminal trucks into the international market.
The REV Bus family of brands
The REV Bus division portfolio features a diverse group of brands well suited for almost every bus application. Unique to REV is the breadth of its product offering that covers many segments of passenger transportation needs. The company’s legacy bus brands launched much of the paratransit bus market over 40 years ago, as ElDorado, Champion, and Goshen were some of the first buses introduced to that market and Collins pioneered the small bus pupil transportation market over 50 years ago. From lowered floor mini-vans, cutaways, and transit and school buses to luxury mid-size buses and tour coaches REV products cover the spectrum.
Foundational to REV’s product offering is an approach to vehicle design and testing that exceeds industry best practices. Several of REV’s products are crash and roll over tested offering the highest degree of passenger safety and product integrity. REV’s engineering team models all products in 3D design software and utilizes Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to validate design in advance. Additionally, REV invests in design validation and destructive testing to endure the highest degrees of product dependability, compliance, and reliability.
REVability – Clarkston, MI, and Longview, TX
Consumer and commercial versions of lowered floor minivans to meet personal use, taxi/livery, and paratransit applications.
Champion – Imlay City, MI
Champion buses are known for heavy-duty construction and customized options leading the small and medium commercial bus market with safety, durability, and industry-leading innovations.
Collins – South Hutchinson, KS
The nation’s top Type A school bus manufacturer for 50 years. Collins builds the “Next Generation Bus” with an extreme focus on child safety, flexible seating, lower emissions and lean manufacturing.
ENC – Riverside, CA
Heavy-duty transit buses, featuring low-floor and standard models. ENC offers a variety of fuel systems, dozens of optional features and hundreds of seating configurations.
ElDorado – Salina, KS
Durable unitized steel reinforced composite construction offering light to and medium-duty commercial buses for paratransit, public transit, university transport, airport parking, group tours, hotel shuttles and assisted living services.
Federal – Imlay City, MI
Federal offers expertly crafted models from non-CDL limo buses on the Ford chassis to Freightliner chassis models up to 44 passengers.
Goshen – Imlay City, MI, and Salina, KS
For over 30 years Goshen has manufactured more than 35,000 light- and medium-duty commercial buses. Goshen buses feature fully welded, steel cage bodies on a variety of chassis options to service fleets of all kinds.
Krystal – Imlay City, MI
A luxury bus with steadfast, renowned styling meeting the transportation needs of discerning buyers and their customers. The Krystal features a custom design Freightliner S2C chassis offering excellent ride and long-life durability.
World Trans – Salina, KS
State of the art engineered to be a lighter, stronger and safer bus. The World Trans bus gives customers a quieter, more fuel-efficient bus in almost any configuration.
Pushing the industry forward
REV saw unprecedented growth in 2017, grossing over $2 billion in revenue – of which the bus division accounted for 31 percent. The company says it is poised to capitalize on that momentum to continue redefining the specialty vehicle industry.
“About 60 percent of our products are financed by either federal or municipal tax money,” Sullivan says. “There is a lot of momentum built into our business thanks to similar momentum in transit funding as tax revenues increase.”
Innovation is a top priority for REV Group in 2018 and pushing forward into 2019. Sullivan says that alternative propulsion is front and center for REV’s research and development team,
“We’re fairly agnostic to the propulsion requirements of our customers,” he says. “We can accommodate diesel, natural gas, propane, all-electric or hybrid power. New forms of propulsion are and will continue to be the main thrust of our innovation.”
Sullivan says that REV is also investing heavily in autonomous vehicle research, which he says will be a key feature in the future of transportation.
Lifetime value
As the parent company of 30 specialty vehicle brands, REV Group connects and protects communities around the clock and around the world with a lineup of vehicles that have long served the bus, emergency, recreation and specialty markets. REV’s lineup of brands helps fight fires, transport patients to emergency rooms, shuttle passengers to the airport and unite families across the country. Their vehicles also offer mobility to people with disabilities, move freight to the world’s ports and carry children safely to school and back home.
“It begins and ends with the REV Group tagline – Vehicles for Life – which expresses our commitment to engineering and building vehicles that perform to very high standards for operators who transport precious cargo, as well as those who manage transportation in life and death situations,” Sullivan says.
The evolution of REV
2006 – American Industrial Partners (AIP) acquire Collins Industries, including Collins, Wheel Coach, Capacity and LayMor (October 2006).
2008 – AIP purchases E-ONE, in carve-out from Federal Signal (August 2008).
2009 – AIP acquires Fleetwood assets, including Fleetwood RV, American Coach and Goldshield Fiberglass.
2010 – AIP purchases Halcore Group, composed of AEV, Horton and Leader ambulances (February 2010).
Allied Specialty Vehicles (ASV) is formed (August 2010).
ASV purchases Road Rescue from Spartan Motors (September 2010).
2013 – ASV purchases SJC Industries, including Marque and McCoy Miller (May 2013)
ASV purchases RV assets of Navistar International, including Monaco and Holiday Rambler (May 2013)
ASV purchases Thor’s bus business, including ElDorado, Champion, Federal, Krystal and Goshen (July 2013)
2015 – ASV renamed and re-branded to REV Group, Inc. (November 2015)
REV acquires Hall-Mark Fire Apparatus of Florida and Texas, an E-ONE, Horton and McCoy Miller dealership (November 2015).
2016 – REV acquires KME fire apparatus (April 2016).
REV creates the Frontline ambulance brand and World Trans bus brand to establish price-sensitive products in those markets (May 2016).
REV acquires Renegade RV (December 2016).
2017 – REV acquires Midwest Automotive Designs manufacturer of Class B luxury RVs and multiple products for the luxury limousine, charter and tour bus markets (April 2017).
REV acquires Ferrara Fire Apparatus Inc. (April 2017)