Girardin Minibus Inc. is a Canadian
bus manufacturer
Bus manufacturing, a sector of the automotive industry, manufactures buses and coaches.
History
Bus manufacturing had its earliest origins in carriage building. Other bus manufacturers had their origins in truck manufacturing. Historically, ch ...
. Based in
Drummondville
Drummondville is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste.
Drummondville is ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada, Girardin forms part of the Micro Bird joint venture with
Blue Bird Corporation
The Blue Bird Corporation (originally known as the Blue Bird Body Company) is an American bus manufacturer headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. Best known for its production of school buses, the company has also manufactured a wide variety o ...
. As part of Micro Bird, Girardin is a manufacturer of bus bodies for minibuses for
cutaway van chassis
Cutaway van chassis are used by second stage manufacturers for a wide range of completed motor vehicles. Especially popular in the United States, they are usually based upon incomplete vans to be bigger or smaller than pickup trucks and SUVs mad ...
.
While many Micro Bird buses are produced as
school bus
A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...
es and related student transport vehicles, Girardin also produces commercial-use buses using cutaway van chassis. In Canada, the company serves as the nationwide distributor of the Blue Bird school bus and commercial bus product line.
Following the 2008 closure of
Corbeil Corbeil may refer to:
Places
* Corbeil, Ontario, Canada
* Corbeil, Marne, a commune in the Marne département in north-eastern France
* Corbeil-Cerf, a commune in the département of Oise in northern France
* Corbeil-Essonnes, a commune in the so ...
, Girardin was the lone Canadian-based manufacturer of school buses until the 2011 opening of
Autobus Lion (now Compagnie Électrique Lion).
History
![Girardin-mb-ii-rear-ends](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Girardin-mb-ii-rear-ends.jpg)
Girardin traces its roots to 1935, when company founder Lionel Girardin opened a used-car dealership and repair shop in
St-Félix-de-Kingsey, Quebec.
He expanded into new-car sales in 1953 by opening a Chrysler dealership. In 1958, Girardin entered the school bus market by becoming a school bus dealership.
In 1965, Girardin opened a bus dealership in Drummondville, Quebec; along with bus sales, Girardin converted vans into minibuses (some of the first Type A school buses). In 1981, a dedicated factory was built to keep up with demand; the factory was expanded in 1991 and again in 2000.
In 1991, Girardin Minibus introduced the MB-II and MB-IV school buses; from 1992 to 1999, these were distributed throughout North America using the Blue Bird by Girardin name. In 1999, a tornado hit the 1991 factory. In 2005, the MB-IV was replaced with the G5, a redesigned dual rear-wheel Type A school bus.
In 2009,
Blue Bird Corporation
The Blue Bird Corporation (originally known as the Blue Bird Body Company) is an American bus manufacturer headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. Best known for its production of school buses, the company has also manufactured a wide variety o ...
entered into a joint venture with Girardin to produce Type A school buses. Under the terms of the joint venture, Blue Bird's Micro Bird (in production since 1975) was phased out and replaced by Girardin-designed products built in Drummondville.
Joint Ventures
Girardin Minibus has twice entered into partnerships with a larger bus manufacturer; both have been with American manufacturer
Blue Bird Corporation
The Blue Bird Corporation (originally known as the Blue Bird Body Company) is an American bus manufacturer headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. Best known for its production of school buses, the company has also manufactured a wide variety o ...
.
Blue Bird MB-II/MB-IV by Girardin (1992–1999)
From 1992 to 1999, Girardin and
Blue Bird
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas.
...
were in a partnership to sell the MB-II and MB-IV Type A school buses in North America. At the time, Girardin was little known outside of Quebec and Blue Bird's own Micro Bird was not available in the single rear-wheel configuration that the MB-II offered. After 1999, Girardin chose to market the MB school buses under its own brand name.
Micro Bird, Inc. (2009–present)
In October 2009, Girardin re-entered into a joint venture with Blue Bird. This partnership, named Micro Bird, Inc, resulted in the Micro Bird model being discontinued, as Type A school bus construction was transferred from Blue Bird's Georgia facility to Girardin's Drummondville facility. Type A school buses built by Girardin are now branded as Blue Bird Micro Bird by Girardin.
The first bus manufacturer in North America to develop a body for the
Ford Transit
The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo in ...
cutaway cab chassis, Micro Bird introduced the T-Series model line in 2015, slotted between the MB-II and G5. While the Transit replaced the E-series as a passenger van, the T-Series marked the introduction of a third model line, produced with a choice of axle configurations on a single body for the first time.
Models
See also
*
Blue Bird Corporation
The Blue Bird Corporation (originally known as the Blue Bird Body Company) is an American bus manufacturer headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. Best known for its production of school buses, the company has also manufactured a wide variety o ...
- distributor of Girardin products in United States; Girardin is distributor of Blue Birds in Canada.
*
Cutaway van chassis
Cutaway van chassis are used by second stage manufacturers for a wide range of completed motor vehicles. Especially popular in the United States, they are usually based upon incomplete vans to be bigger or smaller than pickup trucks and SUVs mad ...
*
Les Enterprises Michel Corbeil - former Canadian competing manufacturer of small school buses
References
{{Automotive industry in Canada
Drummondville
School bus manufacturers
Bus manufacturers of Canada
Blue Bird Corporation
Motor vehicle assembly plants in Canada
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Quebec
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1935
1935 establishments in Quebec
Manufacturing companies based in Quebec