Spartan Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAR) updated the product launch status of its revolutionary Reach delivery vehicle. Demand with major fleets continues to be positive, as one of the world’s largest parcel delivery companies announced an order for 150 new vehicles. The move of Reach manufacturing to the Charlotte, Michigan, campus is underway and on track to be completed in the third quarter of this year.
Spartan’s Utilimaster subsidiary is currently addressing fit-and-finish quality and appearance issues on approximately 170 vehicles. The Company expects to ship the majority of these vehicles to customers or dealers during July and August. For the second quarter of 2012, Spartan does not expect to ship Reach vehicles to customers as the Company addresses the fit-and-finish issues. Spartan expects full-year 2012 shipments of 500 to 1,000 Reach vehicles.
Spartan从主要的车队客户那里收到150辆车的订单
Spartan announced its Utilimaster subsidiary has received a new order for an additional 150 Reach vehicles from one of the world’s largest delivery service companies. Our customer evaluated the performance of the Reach for a year under a variety of climatic and operating conditions. The Reach offers several advantages over a traditional walk-in van, including greater maneuverability, improved ingress and egress, nearly 1,000 lbs. lower weight and significantly lower fuel consumption through the use of advanced, lightweight composites/recycled materials, all combined with great looks. These units will be delivered during the second half of 2012.
Spartan’s Chief Executive Officer, John E. Sztykiel, stated, “The attractive value proposition offered by the Reach is highlighted by this order. This represents an important milestone as we work to realize the long-term opportunities for Reach. As we have demonstrated with the Reach, it is possible to achieve improved vehicle performance while meeting a number of green/sustainability goals.”
新的覆盖生产地点和领导地位
Spartan is currently transferring production of the Reach from Utilimaster’s Wakarusa, Indiana facility to Spartan’s Charlotte, Michigan campus, as previously announced. This process began during June as production ended at the Wakarusa facility. Spartan is currently setting up a dedicated production facility at the Charlotte campus. “The move to Charlotte has always been a part of the Reach business plan, as any product involving Isuzu will be centered in Charlotte. Our N-Series chassis alliance with Isuzu in Charlotte has produced up to 21 chassis per day with 49 people, which is a great metric. We expect to realize that same success with the Reach,” said Sztykiel.
斯巴达（Spartan）还选择了弗兰克·法加（Frank Faga），他是一名在新产品发布和生产方面拥有丰富经验的汽车高管，作为计划经理。Faga先生此前曾担任过高级产品开发和生产角色，包括Fisker，Chrysler和Daimler-Benz。他将领导一支分配的团队，以实施这些变化，并将覆盖范围达到夏洛特工厂的全部生产状态。
2012年生产越来越快
Sztykiel先生评论说：“触及到达范围的推出比我们更喜欢的过程更加困难和耗时。遇到一些需要解决的延误和成本问题并不奇怪，因为该覆盖范围是使用先进的复合材料和新制造工艺的全新的转型交付工具。正如改变游戏规则的新产品一样，我们遇到了一些挑战，因为我们将覆盖范围带入市场，并认为减慢生产的速度是适当的。但是所有问题都有可识别的解决方案。这些解决方案现在正在生效，客户的交付要求将得到满足。我们专注于确保我们拥有一种出色的，面向性能的产品，以推动2013年及以后的销售增长。”
2012 Financial Expectations Unchanged
尽管面临挑战，但该公司重申了对2012年财务业绩的先前披露的期望。管理层此前曾表示，它预计在2012年中期数字的2012年全年收入增长超过2011年的水平，其毛利率在15％至15.5％的范围内，营业费用为12.5％的收入。毛利率和运营费用期望都来自持续运营，不包括Utilimaster搬迁到印第安纳州布里斯托尔的重组或费用。在这一年中，斯巴达预计将提供约500-1,000辆车。2013年，该公司预计该覆盖范围的生产将大约是2012年货物数量的两倍。
Management expects to provide further details on the production ramp of the Reach in its Second Quarter 2012 earnings release and conference call, scheduled to be held in early August.
关于斯巴达汽车
Spartan Motors，Inc。设计，工程师和制造商底盘，专业车辆，卡车机构和售后市场零件，用于休闲车辆，紧急响应，政府服务，国防以及交付和服务市场。该公司的品牌名称-Spartan，Spartan ERV和Utilimaster - 以质量，性能，服务和第一到市场创新而闻名。该公司在密歇根州，宾夕法尼亚州，南达科他州，印第安纳州，佛罗里达州和德克萨斯州的设施中拥有大约1,600名员工。斯巴达（Spartan）报告说，2011年的销售额为4.26亿美元，专注于成为专业车辆和底盘设计，工程和制造的全球领导者。访问Spartan Motorswww.spartanmotors.com。
