Focused on growing the commercial bus market in the U.S., Micro Bird Inc. announced the launch of Micro Bird Commercial earlier this year at APTA’s EXPO in Houston.

“We have always produced and manufactured a top quality commercial product line, but now we have decided to aggressively pursue that line of business in the U.S. market, starting with a dedicated full-time sales and marketing team,” explained James Mansell, national sales manager at Micro Bird.

Mansell added Micro Bird’s commercial product offerings will be directly marketed to operators in several industries, including healthcare, shuttle bus, park and fly, and any other businesses that don’t receive FTA funding.

The company designs and manufactures a complete line of durable commercial buses for up to 25 passengers.
The D-Series, a dual rear wheel bus is made of six longitudinal structural beams combined with one-piece galvanized steel roof bows that enhance safety and rollover protection. A propane system is also available.

Meanwhile, the S-Series, a single rear wheel bus, has a patented extra wide oval body that creates a larger aisle and increases room for better passenger comfort. A wide range of options and configurations are also offered to better accommodate a specific operators’ needs.

Mansell said a major focus right now for Micro Bird is its propane-propelled vehicles, featuring ROUSH CleanTech’s system.

“We think propane is a cost-effective solution, because the infrastructure costs are inexpensive and it’s a mature, efficient system for operators,” Mansell said. “We’re actively looking at different types of solutions as well, but right now propane is a very solid option for this market.”

Micro Bird does its own propane conversions, with the system serviced and backed by ROUSH.

One major aspect of the Micro Bird Commercial launch was the separate branding from its Blue Bird school bus line.

“Micro Bird Commercial keeps the brand, the bird, at the forefront, but we wanted to be clear they are two separate corporate bodies now,” Mansell said.  

Micro Bird Commercial also launched an updated, more modern website for its customers, www.mbcbus.com.

“We have a lot of things we do on the commercial side that are available to our Canadian customers the U.S. market basically knows nothing about,” Mansell explained. “The goal of our new website is to really get our products out there and show people the features and benefits available to them.”

With Micro Bird a long established product in the U.S. market, Mansell added that it already has an extensive dealership network in place, but is also looking to expand that reach.

“We have strong representation in every state, but we are actively looking for new partners, not only end users, but dealers throughout the U.S., to help support our products and help with distribution,” he said. “That expansion is just another part of our growth process we have planned.”