The Shyft Group (), formerly known as Spartan Motors, is an American automobile design company that designs, engineers and manufactures specialty

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpar ...

, specialty vehicles, truck bodies and aftermarket parts for the recreational vehicle (RV), government services, and delivery and service markets. The company started in 1975 as a direct result of the bankruptcy of

Diamond Reo Diamond Reo Trucks was an American truck manufacturer. In 1967, Diamond T and Reo Trucks were combined to form the Diamond Reo Trucks Division of the White Motor Corporation. Reo dated back to 1904 when Ransom E. Olds, founder of Oldsmobi ...

.
New Truck Factory Grows Out Of Diamond Reo Savvy It is currently headquartered in Novi, Michigan, Novi,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

and has 3,000 employees.

History

In 1974,

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, maki ...

-based Diamond Reo Trucks filed for bankruptcy. The Form-Rite Corporation of

Charlotte, Michigan Charlotte ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,074. It is the county seat of Eaton County. Charlotte is in the central portion of the county, on the boundary between Eaton Township an ...

was owed a significant sum by Diamond Reo, which had been Form-Rite's largest client; Form-Rite had supplied fiberglass parts to Reo. During the bankruptcy hearings, Form-Rite president Charles R. McManamey learned of a significant contract that Reo had just won for custom fire truck chassis. From connections made through the hearing, McManamey was able to draw together the additional talent and knowledge required to build such trucks, and founded Spartan Motors, Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary of Form-Rite. During the establishment of Spartan Motors, manufacturing was set up in Form-Rite's warehouse at 426 Sumpter Rd. in Charlotte. Charles McManamey was named Spartan Motors' chairman of the board. Former Reo vice president of engineering and marketing George W. Sztykiel became Spartan's president. Ron Partee, former Reo manager of original equipment manufacturing, stepped in as the vice president of sales. Spartan's vice president of engineering was former Reo director of engineering John Knox. Kenneth C. McManamey, former Form-Rite production engineer and supervisor, served as Spartan's manager of operations. Sztykiel, Partee, Knox, and Ken McManamey all donated their time to build the first chassis on speculation. By January 1, 1976, the chassis was completed. Within weeks it had been sold to FMC in

Tipton, Indiana Tipton is a city in and the county seat of Tipton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,106 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was named after John Tipton, a politician. Histor ...

and Spartan had 16 custom fire truck cab & chassis orders as well as an order for a one-of-a-kind 140,000 pound GVW coal carrier. In March 1976, Spartan Motors employed 12 former Reo employees, including Reo's ex–quality control manager Theodore C. Huff, former staff engineer-chassis at Reo Lawrence E. Karkau, and Gerald L. Geary, who had been assistant manager of truck design at Reo. Spartan was spun-off with its own officers and directors that April. Charles McManamey's sons James and Donald also worked for Spartan Motors, as well as several other part-time workers. The company quickly outgrew the Form-Rite warehouse, and within a few years construction was started for a new facility on Reynolds Road in Charlotte. The McManameys sold their stock in the company and in 1984 Spartan went public, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol “SPAR”. In June 2020, Spartan Motors, Inc. announced its corporate name change to The Shyft Group, Inc. following the divestiture of its Emergency Response (ER) business unit. It began trading on NASDAQ under the symbol "SHYF". In October 2020, Shyft Group acquired the aluminum truck-body manufacturer F3 MFG Inc. based in

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The city is home to Colby College and Thomas College. As of the 2020 census the population was 15,828. Along with Augusta, Waterville is ...

, with its brands DuraMag and Magnum.

Active subsidiaries

Spartan RV Chassis

Spartan RV Chassis engineers, designs, manufactures, sells, and services Class A diesel RV chassis for OEMs such as Entegra Coach, Newmar, Foretravel, and Jayco.

Utilimaster

Utilimaster was acquired in November 2009. It designs, manufacturers, and assembles purpose-built delivery and other vocational trucks.

Strobes-R-Us

Strobes-R-Us was acquired on December 17, 2018. It is a distributor and installer of specialty vehicle upfits and lighting equipment.

General Truck Body

General Truck Body was acquired in June 2019 and merged with Utilimaster. It manufactures and assembles refrigerated and non-refrigerated truck bodies.

Royal Truck Body

Royal Truck Body was acquired on September 20, 2019. It manufactures van bodies and accessories.

DuraMag and Magnum

On October 1, 2020, Shyft acquired F3 MFG, an aluminum truck body and accessory manufacturer behind the DuraMag Body and Magnum Truck Rack brands. The F3 MFG name was phased out and the DuraMag and Magnum brands were nested under the Shyft Specialty Vehicles business unit.

Blue Arc

Shyft launched Blue Arc EV Solutions in March 2022 to build commercial battery electric delivery vans. The Randy Marion Automotive Group placed a pre-order for the vans that September, at about the same time the first prototypes were shown to the press; they are offered in lengths of and multiple

gross vehicle weight rating Vehicle weight is a measurement of wheeled motor vehicles; either an actual measured weight of the vehicle under defined conditions or a gross weight rating for its weight carrying capacity. Curb or kerb weight Curb weight (U.S. English) or kerb ...

s, ranging from Class 3 to 5.

Former subsidiaries

Spartan Emergency Response Vehicles

Spartan Emergency Response Vehicles (Spartan ERV) is a manufacturer of custom

fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to a ...

s. After several years of supplying chassis for fire trucks, Spartan acquired fire apparatus body manufacturers Luverne and Quality Manufacturing in the mid-1990s. Luverne used its early expertise in the automotive and heavy truck industries to begin building fire apparatus in 1912. Quality got its start six decades later, catering to the Southern firefighting market. In 2003, Luverne and Quality were consolidated under the names Crimson Fire and Crimson Fire Aerials. In 2011, Classic Fire of

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

was acquired and became a new Crimson Fire manufacturing facility for fire trucks. In 2012, Spartan Motors rebranded Crimson Fire as Spartan ERV, a joint venture with Gimaex. In January 2017, Spartan ERV acquired fire apparatus manufacturer Smeal Fire Apparatus, including its subsidiaries Smeal, Ladder Tower Company, and US Tanker. On February 3, 2020, Spartan Motors sold Spartan ERV division to the

REV Group REV Group (formerly Allied Specialty Vehicles) is an American manufacturer of ambulances, buses, firefighting vehicles, recreational vehicles and other specialty vehicles. The company has yearly revenue of over $1 billion. History Allied Special ...

, including Spartan Custom Cabs, Smeal Fire Apparatus, Ladder Tower Company, and US Tanker.

Road Rescue

Road Rescue is a manufacturer of

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to med ...

s. It was sold in 2010 to

Allied Specialty Vehicles REV Group (formerly Allied Specialty Vehicles) is an American manufacturer of ambulances, buses, firefighting vehicles, recreational vehicles and other specialty vehicles. The company has yearly revenue of over $1 billion. History Allied Special ...

Carpenter Industries

Carpenter Industries was a manufacturer of

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

es,

transit bus Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

es, and

step van Multi-stop trucks (also known as walk-in delivery or step vans) are a type of light-duty and medium-duty truck created for local deliveries to residences and businesses. They are designed to be driven either sitting down or standing up, and oft ...

s. Carpenter was founded in 1919; Spartan purchased it in 1998, but closed it down in 2001.

References

External links

* * {{Central Michigan Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1975 1975 establishments in Michigan Auto parts suppliers of the United States Companies listed on the Nasdaq Eaton County, Michigan Truck manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan