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New Flyer Industries Inc. is a bus manufacturer in North America, headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It also has factories in Crookston and St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA.

History

Flyer was founded by John Coval in 1930 as the Western Auto and Truck Body Works Ltd. Reflecting an increased focus on bus manufacturing, it changed its name in 1948 to Western Flyer Coach.

In the 1960s, the company further focused on the urban transit bus market. In 1971, the then-financially struggling Western Flyer was sold to the Manitoba Development Corporation, an agency of the Manitoba government, and renamed Flyer Industries Limited.

On July 15, 1986, Jan den Oudsten, a descendant of the family who created the Dutch company Den Oudsten Bussen BV, purchased Flyer Industries from the Manitoba government, changing its name to New Flyer Industries Limited. Den Oudsten Bussen B.V was a bus manufacturer in its native country, the Netherlands.

New Flyer subsequently introduced North America's first low-floor bus, delivering the D40LF to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1991. Also in 1995, the first ever North American low-floor articulated bus was introduced to Strathcona County Transit of Sherwood Park, Alberta. In 2001, the delivery of 6,300 low-floor buses represented close to half of the North American fleet, confirming New Flyer as the dominant player in the transit bus manufacturing industry in North America, a role previously held by the now defunct Flxible.

In March 2002, New Flyer was acquired by KPS Special Situations Fund in New York. Also in the same year, Mr. den Oudsten retired as CEO of New Flyer Industries Ltd. and has recently been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Public Transportation Association.

In 2003, King County Metro of Seattle, WA placed an order for 213 hybrid buses, the largest ever for hybrid buses up to that time. This record was broken when MTA New York ordered 825 hybrid buses of a different company that same year (despite they ordered between 2004 and 2007). On December 15 of the same year, New Flyer announced that Harvest Partners, Inc., a New York-based private equity firm, had entered into definitive agreements to acquire New Flyer Industries Limited, from KPS Special Situations Fund. Lightyear Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, joined Harvest as a co-investor in the transaction. John Marinucci, CEO of New Flyer, said, "This is exciting news for New Flyer" And he went on to say that KPS specializes in turning around struggling businesses and that they typically do not hold assets after the turnaround has been accomplished. And that ever since the KPS purchase, New Flyer had achieved excellent operational and financial performance. He especially praised the employees.

On August 19, 2005, New Flyer announced the closing of an initial public offering in Canada of 20,000 Income Deposit Securities, becoming a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange. That year also saw the introduction of optional redesigned front and rear endcaps for their buses. The new endcaps are an attempt to modernize and streamline the look of their fleet, which is more or less a box on wheels. Also, a new "R" suffix was applied on all units produced with the new endcaps. The redesigned endcaps made their debut with the 2005 E40LFR built for the Vancouver trolleybus system.

Between 2005 and the end of 2009, New Flyer supplied a total of 262 low-floor trolleybuses to the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (now known as TransLink), of which 74 were articulated (model E60LFR). The original order, placed in late 2003, was for 188 E40LFR units and 40 E60LFR units. The first E40LFR was delivered in July 2005, and the rest of the 40-foot (12 m) units were delivered between August 2006 and September 2007. The first articulated, E60LFR trolleybus arrived in Vancouver in January 2007. TransLink decided to order an additional 34 articulated units, making the total 74, and delivery of the 73 production-series E60LFR units took place between October 2007 and autumn 2009.

Another purchaser of trolleybuses from New Flyer was SEPTA, operator of the Philadelphia trolleybus system. That agency placed an order with New Flyer in February 2006 for 38 E40LFR "trackless trolleys", as trolleybuses are known there. The first vehicle was delivered in June 2007, and the remaining 37 were received by SEPTA during 2008.

In October 2008, New Flyer Industries Canada ULC was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, New Flyer was also named one of Manitoba's Top Employers, which was announced by the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper.

The company converted to a corporate structure from a trust-like structure in October, 2011. In May 2012, New Flyer and Alexander Dennis Limited announced a new joint-venture to design and manufacture medium-duty low-floor bus (or midi bus) for the North American market. New Flyer will handle production and marketing, and Alexander Dennis will handle the engineering and testing. In June 2012 New Flyer, in a joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Manitoba Government, Manitoba Hydro and Red River College, unveiled a fully electric battery-powered bus.

Brazilian bus manufacturer Marcopolo S.A. acquired a 19.99% stake of New Flyer on January 23, 2013 for $116-million, the maximum it could acquire without offering to buy out other shareholders. New Flyer purchased Orion's aftermarket parts business from Daimler on March 1, 2013 such as inventory, accounts receivable, license to use proprietary part designs for Orion buses and included certain regulations for $29 million (it also acquired some of Orion's outstanding orders at the time of shutdown). Under the purchase, Daimler has entered into an arrangement to supply the parts to DBNA for customer warranty support. On June 21, 2013, New Flyer Industries announced the acquisition of North American Bus Industries.

Bus models

Each designation is preceded by a letter before the model name, which is given below.

Model designations

Current Flyer model numbers are composed of a core that indicates the power source and the length (in feet), and a prefix or suffix which designates the model. Note that not all possible combinations have been offered.

Current production

The current product line does not account for those models which are marketed by subsidiary North American Bus Industries.

Model	Length	Width	Introduced	Notes	Photo
Xcelsior	35 feet (11 m) 40 feet (12 m) 60 feet (18 m)	102 inches (2.6 m)	2008	10% weight reduction compared to previous models D, DE, GE, E, T and N versions only.	XDE60	XDE40
MiDi	30 feet (9.1 m) 35 feet (11 m)	96 inches (2.4 m)	2013	Developed in association with British manufacturer Alexander Dennis, which markets the bus in Europe as the Enviro200.

Discontinued models

Model	Introduced	Discontinued	Maximum Seats	Notes	Photo
New Flyer Industries Power Length Floor height Model C = compressed natural gas D = diesel DE = diesel-electric hybrid E = electric trolleybus F = fuel cell GE = gasoline-electric hybrid H = hybrid diesel-electric HE = hydrogen hybrid-electric L = liquefied natural gas 30 = 30 feet (9.1 m) 35 = 35 feet (11 m) 40 = 40 feet (12 m) 41 = 41 feet (12.5 m) 60 = 60 feet (18 m) articulated none = high-floor none = standard transit i = Invero low-floor S = suburban V = Viking coach HF = high-floor LF = low-floor none = standard transit A = bus rapid transit
30LFR	2005	2014		Not available in GE or E versions
35LFR	2005	2014		C, D, DE, and GE versions only.
40LFR	2005	2014
60LFR	2005	2014		D, DE, and E versions only.
C30LF D30LF DE30LF	1996	2009		DE version was never built.
DE35LFA D40LFA C40LFA DE40LFA GE40LFA D60LFA DE60LFA	2005	2010		35LFA available only in DE, 40LFA available only in C, D, DE or GE, 60LFA available only in D or DE versions, for BRT.
D35	1988	1997		Also known as D35HF.
C35LF D35LF DE35LF L35LF	1996	2009		Sold in the United States only.
C40 D40 L40	1987	1999		Also known as the C40HF, D40HF and L40HF respectively.
C40LF D40LF DE40LF GE40LF L40LF	1989	2013		Interior and exterior revisions and different engines were added to these models.
D40i DE40i Invero	2001	2007		One of the largest customers was OC Transpo (Ottawa, Ontario). Only a small number of DE40i (hybrid diesel/electric) versions were produced, all for Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (Aspen, Colorado).
D40S	1988	1994		A suburban version of the D40; manufactured only for GO Transit (Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area).
F40LF	1996	1996		Hydrogen fuel cell prototype.
HE40LF	2006	2006		Hydrogen-electric hybrid demo for SunLine Transit Agency (Riverside County, California).
DE41LF	2007	2009		5 units built for the Hamilton Street Railway and 220 units built for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
D45S ITV Viking	1998	1999		104 units built for MTAs of Houston, Texas (METRO) and New York City (NYCTA).
D60 E60 Galaxy	1988	2006 (see notes)		Articulated, also known as the D60HF and E60HF respectively. The E60 was only built from 1992 to 1994 for the San Francisco Municipal Railway.
D60LF DE60LF	1997	2010		Articulated. Outstanding orders filled in 2010. The DE60LF was sold in the United States only. Currently in use by the Chicago Transit Authority among other models.
Flyer Industries Limited  A and B suffixes denoted update versions.
D700 D700A	1968	1974	53	Similar in appearance to the Flxible New Look.
E700 E700A	1968	1973	53	Trolleybus version of the D700/D700A; D700A shells sold to the Toronto Transit Commission (Toronto, Ontario) to reuse components from Canadian Car & Foundry-Brill T48 and T48A trolleybuses.
D800 D800B	1974	1981	53	Based on the AM General Metropolitan, which itself was an updated version of the D700. Offered in -9635 (96 inches × 35 feet ) and -10240 (102 inches × 40 feet ) versions.
E800 E800A	1974	1978	53	Trolleybus version of the D800/D800B. Notable operators of the E800 were the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (Boston, Massachusetts) and San Francisco Municipal Railway (San Francisco, California). The E800A was delivered only to the Hamilton Street Railway (Hamilton, Ontario).
D900	1978	1980	53
D901 D901A	1980	1986	53	Revised front with rounded corners.
E901A	1981	1982	53	This trolleybus model was only built for BC Transit (Vancouver, British Columbia). Production continued with the E902 model, which may be identical (no differences between the E901A and E902 have ever been identified). A total of 80 E901A and E902 trolleybuses were sold to EPTM (Mendoza, Argentina) in 2008.
D902	1984	1984	53	This model was only built for San Francisco MUNI.
E902	1982	1984	53	This trolleybus model was only built for BC Transit and may be simply a redesignation of the E901A model, as no differences between the E901A and E902 models have ever been identified. A total of 80 E901A and E902 trolleybuses were sold to EPTM in 2008.
D2001			32	A 30-foot (9.1 m) version of the D900 that was announced but never built.
Western Flyer Coach
Western Flyer	1941	1941		Front engine highway coach; no official model name.
T-28	1945	1945	28	highway coach
T-32	1945	1959	32	gasoline engine highway coach
T-36	1950	1955	36	standard highway coach
T36-2L	1955	1955	36	split-level 40-2L body
Canuck	1953			diesel rear engine prototype
P-37 Canuck	1955		37	gasoline rear engine
C-40	1949	1955	40	intercity coach
T-40	1949	1955	40	transit version of the C-40
P-37 Canuck	1955	1958	37	intercity coach
P-41 Canuck	1958	1964	41	diesel rear engine intercity coach
D500 Canuck	1964	1967	37	31 feet (9.4 m) diesel rear engine
D600 Canuck	1967	1968	45	38 feet (12 m) lengthened version of D500
Western Auto & Truck Body Works
Buda Lo-525	1937	1941?	32	First bus produced by company; sold to Grey Goose Bus Lines (Winnipeg, Manitoba).

Source: New Flyer Industries Inc.

Orion Aftermarket Parts

New Flyer acquired Orion Aftermarket Parts business for the Orion V to Orion VII bus models. New Flyer completed remaining Orion VII orders and are not producing any future Orion buses.

References

1. ^ Stauss, Ed (1988). The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses. Woodland Hills, CA (USA): Stauss Publications. ISBN 0-9619830-0-0.
2. "New Flyer Receives Order for Up To 715 Buses From King County". Welcome to New Flyer!. New Flyer Industries Inc. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
3. Trolleybus Magazine No. 254 (March–April 2004), p. 43. ISSN 0266-7452.
4. Trolleybus Magazine No. 263 (September–October 2005), p. 117.
5. Trolleybus Magazine No. 270 (November–December 2006), p. 135.
6. Trolleybus Magazine No. 277 (January–February 2008), p. 15
7. Trolleybus Magazine No. 273 (May–June 2007), p. 62.
8. Trolleybus Magazine No. 267 (May–June 2006), p. 71.
9. Trolleybus Magazine No. 282 (November–December 2008), p. 140.
10. "Reasons for Selection, 2009 Canada's Top 100 Employers Competition".
12. Kusch, Larry. "New Flyer green leader". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
13. "Brazilian bus maker loads up stake in New Flyer Industries". The Globe and Mail. 2013-01-23. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
14. "New Flyer buys Orion parts business of Daimler Bus". The Globe and Mail. 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
15. http://www.nabusind.com/news/New_Flyer_Aquires_NABI_Closing_Press_Release.pdf
16. http://www.newflyer.com/index/news-app/story.145
17. Fuel Cell Initiative Overview BC Transit
18. New Flyer Xcelsior info
19. "Bus images". Retrieved 5 December 2012.
20. Sebree, Mac; and Ward, Paul (1974). The Trolley Coach in North America, pp. 329–332. Los Angeles: Interurbans. LCCN 74-20367.
21. ^ Trolleybus Magazine No. 247 (January–February 2003), pp. 17–18.

Further reading

• http://www.newflyer.com/index/news-app/story.47
• http://www.metrokc.gov/exec/news/2007/0516bus.aspx

External links

Official website

v t e Automotive industry in Canada
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Category Commons

• Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
• Bus manufacturers
• Companies based in Winnipeg
• Motor vehicle manufacturers of Canada
• Companies established in 1930
• Natural gas vehicles
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• Trolleybus manufacturers
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