Spartan Enters Customized Commercial Chassis Market

Aug. 23, 2007
Spartan Chassis, Inc., a subsidiary of Spartan Motors, Inc, will unveil the Furion today at the Fire-Rescue International Expo in Atlanta

Spartan Chassis, Inc., a subsidiary of Spartan Motors, Inc, will unveil the Furion today at the Fire-Rescue International Expo in Atlanta. The Furion, which is the third fire truck cab and chassis in the Spartan Chassis product line, is designed to bridge the market between custom and commercial vehicles. This new product offers many of the key product features that Spartan Chassis is known -- and prized -- for, yet will enable the body builder to offer a fire truck at a price competitive to a fire truck built on a commercial chassis.

The Furion will be on display August 24-25 at Booth 1912 at FRI, which is sponsored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and is one of the emergency-rescue industry's largest trade shows.

"The addition of the Furion completes our line up of custom cabs and chassis," said Richard Schalter, president of Spartan Chassis. "Between the Gladiator, Metro Star and Furion, we offer departments the opportunity to build what they want -- and get what they want."

Unlike its commercial counterparts, which might wind up as a delivery or moving truck, the Furion is a purpose-built cab-and-chassis specifically designed for the emergency-rescue industry. When a Furion rolls off the Spartan Chassis line, it is ready for an apparatus to be fitted, which will save the body builder hours of time and labor in chassis preparation currently required on commercial chassis.

"The Furion is a major initiative for Spartan Chassis and Spartan Motors and marks our entry into the customized commercial chassis market," said John Sztykiel, president and CEO of Spartan Motors. "Historically, we have been very good at converting commercial markets to custom. Over the years, we have secured increasingly large shares in our key markets.

"The Spartan Chassis brand has tremendous cache. We feel this is an excellent time to launch the Furion, which will put the power and performance of a Spartan Chassis into the affordable range for virtually all fire departments."

In crash tests conducted by the Center for Advanced Product Evaluation, the Furion cab complied with roof strength, occupant protection and frontal impact requirements as defined by SAE J2422, ECE R29 and SAE J2420.