Lion Bus Roars Into the Market After Canadian school bus manufac-
turer Corbeil was sold to Collins in 2007, an idea dawned on Marc Bédard, who had acted as an advisor to the company and its board of directors. Te concept was to jump from the Type A market into one that until recently was occupied by only three heavy hitters. To do this, Bédard reached out to Camile Chartrand, the former president of Corbeil. “We went on the road to meet with
several customers [for] three to four months to perform a customer due dili- gence review and determine what were the biggest challenges that the con- tractors were facing, how the products offered by the three OEMs in the Type C market respond to those challenges, and [to] determine if there was a need for an- other manufacturer in this market,” said Bédard, who is now the president of Lion Bus, with Chartrand serving as the com-
pany’s chief operating officer. Te duo concluded that contractors
and school districts were looking for a school bus that would not rust and would last
longer, address the issues
raised by the growing need for lap/shoul- der belts and come with a lower overall price. Along the way, they also took time to speak with mechanics to pick their brains on what they would like to see in a new Type C. Teir answer: make sure that the best mechanical components are used and that those components are located in a way to give them easy access. “Our business model is to maintain di-
rect communications with the operators to efficiently respond to their requests and to keep improving our products in the future,” explained Bédard, who assert- ed that this new model will last 15 years because of its fiberglass composite body, Termoplastic PolyOlefin (TPO) skirts
and polyethylene stepwell, battery box and wheelhouses. “We have invested a lot of efforts in the details, most particularly with respect to the driver’s ergonomics. We have had several discussions/meet- ings with drivers to understand their needs and make their life easier, while maximizing the security of our kids.” Lion Bus recently entered into a long-
term agreement with Spartan to supply a chassis that is custom made for the school bus industry and integrates with the Lion Bus body. Te company’s manufacturing facility was finalized in late 2010/early 2011, with production starting a few months ago and models already available for order. ■
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www.ewss.org | 10939B Reed Hartman Hwy. • Cincinnati, OH 45242 36 School Transportation News Magazine August 2011
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