Spartan Motors Expands Contract Assembly for Isuzu with New F-Series Truck

The Company to build dedicated 85,000 square-foot plant in Charlotte, Michigan

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Mar 28, 2016, 07:30 ET

CHARLOTTE, Mich., March 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Spartan Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAR) ("Spartan" or the "Company"), a leader in the manufacturing of high-quality specialty chassis and vehicle assembly, announced today that Isuzu North America Corporation selected the Company to produce the Isuzu F-Series truck. This expanded relationship demonstrates Isuzu's confidence in Spartan's quality, people, flexibility, and expertise. Further, it provides another positive example of the Company's successful execution of its multi-year plan for improving performance.

Daryl Adams, President & CEO, and Steve Guillaume, Division President, Specialty Vehicles, at the site of Spartan Motors' proposed new truck manufacturing plant.

On April 19, at Spartan's headquarters in Charlotte, Michigan, the Company and Isuzu will hold a groundbreaking ceremony to recognize this new contract, which expands a relationship that began in 2011 with Spartan's assembly of Isuzu N-Series gas trucks.

Manufacturing Partnership Expanded

In May 2011, Spartan announced the start of production of the Isuzu gasoline-powered N-Series trucks. Since 2011, the two companies have realized phenomenal growth in that segment, and in April 2015 the 20,000th N-Series gas truck rolled off of Spartan's assembly line. The F-Series marks an expansion of Isuzu's product offering into class 6 on-highway commercial trucks. Spartan will work closely with Isuzu to ensure the finished product meets Isuzu's specifications and delivery requirements precisely.

New State-of-the-Art Facility

Spartan has invested heavily in a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility which has a flexible production line that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate the assembly of multiple product lines. This approach allows Spartan to quickly scale up production to meet its customers' expedited delivery needs or scale down to accommodate changing business cycles.

To support production of the new Isuzu vehicle, a new plant will be added to the Spartan portfolio and Charlotte campus. Spartan worked closely with both the city of Charlotte and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to create and formalize plans for this new plant. The facility will be 85,000 square-feet and will be dedicated solely to production of Isuzu products.

"Over the last 18 months, we have implemented a number of changes in different areas of the company which are driving increased revenue and business performance. However, when an existing customer such as Isuzu makes a multi-year commitment to Spartan, we feel that is the best validation that we are focused on the right things and making progress in the right areas," said Daryl Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer, Spartan Motors. "We want to thank our partners at the City of Charlotte and the MEDC for their collaboration and support. We look forward to further expansion of our manufacturing footprint and bringing additional new jobs to Michigan."

More Manufacturing Jobs for Michigan

The new Isuzu contract will be beneficial for Michigan's skilled manufacturing workforce. Spartan believes in investing in talent with the expertise and work ethic to support its collaborative partnerships and high-quality production standards. "We're extremely pleased that Isuzu chose Spartan again, as it launches this new product line," said Steve Guillaume, Division President, Specialty Vehicles, Spartan Motors. "We look forward to delivering the same precision assembly and comprehensive quality by utilizing our highly-skilled workforce that made our first venture with Isuzu such a resounding success."

About Spartan Motors

Spartan Motors, Inc. is a leading designer, engineer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty vehicles, specialty chassis, vehicle bodies and parts for the fleet and delivery, recreational vehicle (RV), emergency response, defense forces and contract assembly (light/medium duty truck: Class 3, 4 and 5) markets. The Company's brand names - Spartan Motors, Spartan Specialty Vehicles, Spartan Emergency Response, Spartan Parts and Accessories, and Utilimaster®, a Spartan Motors Company - are known for quality, durability, performance, customer service and first-to-market innovation. The Company employs approximately 1,700 associates at facilities in Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Indiana. Spartan reported sales of $550 million in 2015. Visit Spartan Motors at www.spartanmotors.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160327/348240

SOURCE Spartan Motors, Inc.