Eagle and Federal Coach Consolidate Funeral Coach Production in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- With top funeral service vehicle brands Federal Coach and Eagle Coach gaining a combined double-digit market share increase in 2009, company leadership is now poised to continue that growth with the move of its Federal funeral coach production from Fort Smith, Arkansas to its manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The transition of Federal funeral coaches to Cincinnati will occur in March 2010. The facility will manufacture the Renaissance, Heritage and Stratford models under the Federal name, and the Echelon, Ultimate, Kingsley and Coupe de Fleur models under the Eagle name. Each brand will maintain its own unique identity and will be sold and serviced by the current Federal and Eagle dealer networks. Federal and Eagle funeral limousines will be produced in the Fort Smith facility through 2010, then will migrate to Cincinnati.  The funeral service vans, for each brand, will continue to be built in Ohio.

The Cincinnati plant is well known in the funeral service industry for manufacturing some of the industry's best coaches and specialty vehicles under the Eagle brand. The move enables the Specialty Vehicle Group (SVG) to become even more market driven, providing its nationwide dealer network and funeral directors with unrivaled products and services.

"With the top names in funeral cars coming together under one roof, we can leverage our resources in design, development and manufacturing to provide outstanding dealer support, greater product innovation and the absolute highest quality funeral vehicles available on the market," says Fred Wolfinger, Eagle's brand manager. "We pride ourselves not only on the cars we build, but also on the relationships we've built by being proactive and responsive to the market."

"The move is a positive one for our organization, our dealer networks and most importantly, funeral directors and livery professionals," says Randy Garner, brand manager of Federal Coach. "The consolidation will strengthen each brand – a positive sign for both Federal and Eagle customers."

SVG leadership says it expects to add numerous new jobs in the Cincinnati facility in the coming year. The move is part of an overall corporate restructuring that will position the company for even greater success in the future.

About SVG:

The Specialty Vehicle Group (SVG) is comprised of the Eagle Coach and Federal Coach brands, and is a business unit of J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc., of Houston, TX (www.jbpoindexter.com).   J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc. is a diversified manufacturing company with 4,000 team members in over 35 facilities from Oregon to Florida and Saskatchewan to Mexico.  Revenues in three-quarter of a billion dollar range are generated through four divisions operating in the transportation and industrial product sectors.

SOURCE Specialty Vehicle Group