Spartan Chassis Performance 2006
Everything’s Riding on It™
Spartan Chassis again proved to be the powerhouse of Spartan Motors. Our goals for 2006 were straightforward: We wanted to leverage capabilities and technology between products, expand our service offerings and deepen customer relationships. Coming off of Chassis’ best-ever year in 2005, we knew the bar was set pretty high—yet the team was ready for the challenge.
During 2006, Spartan Chassis:
- Grew orders of our custom fire truck cabs and chassis by nearly 20 percent to a record 964 units. More than 50 fire truck builders rely on Spartan chassis as the foundation for their pumpers, rescues, aerial units and other vehicles.
- Grew our motorhome chassis orders despite a decline in the overall RV market. We now have 40 models built by four motorhome manufacturers: Fleetwood Enterprises, Newmar, Travel Supreme and Tiffin, our newest strategic partner.
- Secured $45 million in new contracts to supply and integrate key chassis components and to assist in manufacturing nearly 400 Iraqi Light-Armored Vehicles.
- Secured $99.8 million in new contracts to supply and integrate key chassis components and to assist in manufacturing heavy-duty, blast-protected vehicles used by the U.S. military in Iraq to transport troops and patrol urban areas.
- Increased backlog by 67.6 percent.
- Orders of fire truck chassis in the first 6 months of 2006 exceeded total 2005 shipments.
- Spartan Chassis grew RV sales and market share in a year where industry sales declined.
- Established a new on-site service facility and customer lounge.
- Significantly expanded membership in our strategic partnership program with fire apparatus makers and dealers.
- Began construction on a new 107,000 square-foot facility at our Michigan headquarters to accommodate new orders and existing backlog for our fire truck cabs and chassis. We expect the new facility will come online during the second quarter of 2007 to improve lead times and reliability.
Excellent people, products and processes once again added up to a record year for Spartan Chassis.
Excerpt from “Performance + Potential” 2006 Spartan Motors, Inc. Annual Report, 2006.