Spartan Chassis, Inc., a subsidiary of Spartan Motors, Inc., announced the purchase of two manufacturing facilities near its headquarters in Charlotte, Mich.
The facilities, which total 80,000 square feet, will help Spartan meet anticipated increased demand from its military customers to supply and integrate key chassis components for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, while also creating capacity at Spartan's other facilities for< fire truck and motorhome chassis production.
We are growing our overall capacity to meet the sustained demand we are seeing for our specialty chassis products," said Richard Schalter, president of Spartan Chassis. "Along with our newly constructed 107,000-square-foot fire truck cab and chassis facility, the new facilities will allow us to grow market share for existing products, while also introducing new products."
Spartan Motors reported it plans to spend $8 million to purchase and renovate the facilities, and expects the two recently purchased facilities to be operational in the third quarter of 2007.
"Our recent capacity additions are improving efficiency at Spartan Chassis, as we can better specialize and focus production within a facility on just RV, fire truck or specialty vehicle products," said John Sztykiel, president and CEO of Spartan Motors. "Overall, the dynamic of added capacity and efficiency will help us grow as we focus on becoming the premier manufacturer of specialty vehicles and chassis in North America."
The MRAP vehicles are designed to protect their occupants from a combination of mines, rocket-propelled grenades, or RPGs, and improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, through their V-shaped hull, raised chassis and< improved armor. According to U.S. government reports, roadside bombs and IEDs account for 70 percent of U.S. deaths and injuries in Iraq.