Starting next year, Big Rig Manufacturing will assemble clean diesel Enviro500 double deck buses and the zero-emission Enviro500EV CHARGE to Alexander Dennis designs, specifications, and processes at a new facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The new arrangement replicates the highly successful partnerships Alexander Dennis has in the Asia-Pacific region with contract manufacturers in China and New Zealand.
With US and Canadian bus and coach production facilities within NFI Group responding to the group’s largest order book and backlog in history, cooperation allows Alexander Dennis to meet North American demand for its double deck range with Buy America-compliant arrangements.
Alexander Dennis engineering and production staff will be located permanently on site at the brand-new facility in Las Vegas, supporting chassis production, major sub-assembly and full production of the bus body.
Stephen Walsh, Vice-President and General Manager of Alexander Dennis in North America, stated: “We’re excited about this new opportunity with Big Rig Manufacturing which provides an elegant solution to restarting double deck production in North America.”
“I’m pleased that we have been able to team up with a familiar partner for many of our current double deck customers who have previously selected Big Rig Collision Group to complete comprehensive mid-life overhauls on their buses,” he added.
The Enviro500’s combination of high seating capacity on a compact road footprint is proven by its ongoing popularity and an active fleet of more than 1,000 Alexander Dennis double deckers across the continent.
“Many of our long-standing customers have older vehicles coming up for replacement and this production agreement allows us to support their fleet investment,” he said.
Kenton Schultz, President of Big Rig Manufacturing, said: “We will provide a depth of experience and expertise to streamline this manufacturing process and lean on our long-established knowledge in the heavy-duty and large vehicle repair markets“.
“This next step in evolution is particularly exciting, as it will allow Big Rig Manufacturing to bring cutting-edge safety features and newly pioneered zero-emission technologies to life, supporting Alexander Dennis in fulfilling their surging customer demand,” he added.
Alexander Dennis closed its previous Enviro500 production facilities in Toronto, Ontario and Nappanee, Indiana when the COVID-19 pandemic delayed orders. The longer-term order book has remained buoyant with orders from new and existing customers in the pipeline.
