A few large companies have focused on the multi-occupant vehicle market, specifically school bus production, in North America. There are currently three main competitors within the school bus manufacturing industry. This industry consists of the Henlys Group PLC; a British based company; Collins Industries Inc. and Navistar International (Collins and Navistar are U.S. based companies). Henlys consists of Blue Bird Corporation, Prevost Car Inc, Nova Bus and TransBus International Ltd. Collins industries operates seven vehicle companies of which Collins Bus Corporation and Mid Bus Corporation make up the School bus line. And finally, Navistar International, which also produces school buses, is divided into three principle industry segments. In October of 1999, Henlys acquired Blue Bird Corporation. This horizontal acquisition gave Henlys a competitive advantage in the North American school bus market. Currently, Blue Bird has increased its market share to over 47% making this market a core product for Henlys. Blue Bird, financially, has accounted for 59% of total corporate sales and 81% of Henlys profits. Within Blue Bird, school bus sales accounted for 83% of their total sales. Blue Bird offers three styles of small buses and three different large buses, all designed to meet customer needs. They have also teamed up with the Southwest Research Institute to develop the bus of future, the Envirobus. The joint venture was commissioned by the Department of Energy in response to increased pressure from various environmentalist groups to develop buses that are safer and are environmentally conscious. This acquisition also makes Henlys the largest company by sales in school buses in the North American Market. Besides school buses, Blue Bird also produces commercial buses and recreational vehicles. Henlys is also able to take advantage of Blue Birds extensive network of distributors. These areas complement Henlys other areas of ...
