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2010
80th Anniversary
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2004 to present
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Heritage Logo (2005)
75th Anniversary |
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| 1996 to 2004 |
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| 1986 to 1996 |
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Flyer Industries
1971 to 1986 |
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Western Flyer Coach
1945 to 1971 |
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The Company was founded in 1930, as Western Auto and Truck Body
Limited. In 1941 the company introduced the “Western Flyer” – the first
coach with the engine inside the coach body, allowing for extra
seating. By 1948, the company was renamed Western Flyer Coach, and, in
1953, introduced the very successful “Canuck” custom-built highway
coach. Manufacturing expanded into urban transit buses leading to the
opening of a new plant in Fort Garry in 1964. In 1971, the company name
was changed to Flyer Industries Limited, which developed and sold the
heavy-duty diesel transit bus models, D700, D800 & D900 as well as
electric trolley versions of these models.
On July 15, 1986, Flyer Industries Limited was acquired by Jan Den
Oudsten of Den Oudsten, B.V., Holland’s largest bus manufacturer. The
company name was changed to New Flyer Industries Limited. The company
developed and introduced the “low-floor” bus to the North American
market. What began as a specialty product soon became the industry
standard, with New Flyer as the leader in units sold and in revenue
service miles.
Over the next 15 years, New Flyer established a solid reputation for
innovation in design through the development of new products such as an
articulated low-floor bus, hydrogen fuel cell powered buses, and new
features such as programmable logic controlled electrical systems. In
1999, New Flyer introduced the Invero™, the first premium
low-floor transit bus, incorporating automotive type styling, computer
controlled electronics network and other never-before-offered features.
The company’s continued growth in the US and development of Buy America
legislation led to the development of New Flyer of America in 1987 to
operate a final assembly plant in California. Due to successful
penetration into the Eastern U.S. market and for economy of operation,
the final assembly plant was moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota in
1990. A total of 2,655 buses were final assembled at this plant. In
March 1996 New Flyer of America closed its Grand Forks operation and
relocated to a new completely updated final assembly facility in
Crookston, Minnesota. Continued sales growth required the construction
of a third assembly plant in St. Cloud, Minnesota, which opened in June
of 1999. This state-of-the-art manufacturing facility was designed to
build complete buses in addition to performing final assembly
operations.
On March 18, 2002 KPS Special Situations Funds (“KPS”) completed a
change-of-control transaction and recapitalization of New Flyer as part
of a multi-stakeholder recapitalization and restructuring of the
Company. On April 29, 2002John S. Marinucci was appointed as President
and Chief Executive
Officer of New Flyer. Prior to joining New Flyer, Mr. Marinucci was
President and Chief Operating Officer at National Steel Car Limited, a
major North American manufacturer of freight cars.
Later in 2002, New Flyer secured an order to build North America’s
first fleet of 218 articulated hybrid buses for King County Metro in
Seattle, WA, establishing New Flyer as the leader in hybrid bus
production. The buses were delivered in 2004. During this time, New
Flyer partnered with San Bernardino County, CA to build the first
gasoline-electric hybrid buses.
On February 27, 2004 Harvest Partners Inc., a New York based leading
private equity firm specializing in middle market investments purchased
New Flyer Industries Limited from KPS Special Situations Fund. Founded
in 1981, Harvest Partners has approximately $1 billion of invested and
committed capital under management. Lightyear Capital, LLC, a New York
based private equity firm joined Harvest Partners Inc., as a
co-investor.
In 2004, New Flyer delivered the world’s first hydrogen hybrid bus to
Sun Line Transit in California. New Flyer also re-entered the electric trolley
business with an order for 40-foot and 60-foot buses for Translink in
the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority. These trolleys were
delivered in 2005 and also represented the first production of the New
Flyer Restyled front mask and rear cap.
On August 19, 2005, New Flyer announced the closing of an initial
public offering in Canada of 20,000 Income Deposit Securities ("IDSs"),
becoming a publicly-traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In
the same year, New Flyer became the first manufacturer in its category
to acquire OHSAS 18001 certification and one of very few companies to
amalgamate ISO9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment), and OHSAS 18001
(Safety) into one corporate-wide management system. This was also the
first year New Flyer was named to the Canada Top 100 Employers list.
In 2006, the Company launched its new “Advanced Style – BRT”. This
vehicle set a new standard for bus rapid transit vehicles with a more
rail-like design and state-of-the-art features to improve the passenger
experience and system efficiency.
BC Transit, in 2007, awarded New Flyer the contract to build the
world’s first fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses. The first of these
buses was delivered in 2008 and the remainder were built in
2009. This fleet was highlighted at the 2010 Winter Olympics in
Whistler, BC.
In 2008, New Flyer launched introduced Xcelsior™,
the customer-centric evolution of the standard transit bus. Its many
product improvements make Xcelsior™ a “best-in-class” vehicle including
a 10% weight reduction, upgraded styling, single-reduction axle, all
wheel disc brakes and improved access to components, wider door and
entry area, a lower front step and an improved ramp angle, improved
ride quality, better visibility, interior LED lighting and many other
interior advancements.
In January of 2009, Paul Soubry was appointed as President
and Chief Executive Officer of New Flyer. Prior to joining New Flyer, Mr. Soubry served with StandardAero as President and CEO from 2007 to August of 2008, as President and
COO from 2005 to 2007 and in other senior executive capacities from 1991 through
2005.
In April of 2010, New Flyer acquired the
assets and business of TCB Industries, LLC (“TCB”) of Elkhart, Indiana. TCB is a designer and manufacturer of interior LED lighting systems, grab rails
and seamless stanchions, drivers’ barriers and other miscellaneous bus parts.
In May of 2012, New Flyer announced a long-term joint venture with Alexander Dennis Limited as part of its strategy to pursue growth and
diversification. Alexander Dennis is the United Kingdom’s largest
manufacturer of medium, heavy-duty and double-deck transit buses and
coaches. The two companies will collaborate to introduce the MiDi™, North America's first mid-sized transit bus specifically developed and
tested to a 10-year operational life.
In June of 2012, New Flyer unveiled its prototype all-electric 40-foot Xcelsior™ heavy-duty transit bus. The prototype is based on New Flyer’s successful 40-foot Xcelsior™
heavy-duty transit bus, North America’s most advanced bus platform
available today. The bus is equipped with an electric drive and is
modified to carry advanced lithium ion batteries from MHI that are
charged from the city’s electrical grid instead of by a conventional
diesel engine.
In January of 2013, Marcopolo S.A. agreed to make a strategic investment of C$116
million to acquire 11,087,834 newly issued common shares, representing a
19.99% stake in New Flyer.
In March of 2013, New flyer acquired certain assets from Daimler Buses North America
relating to its Orion aftermarket parts business for heavy-duty transit buses.
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