Spartan Motors, Inc., Charlotte, Mich., announced plans to build an 85,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, dedicated to producing Isuzu diesel trucks, further expanding its relationship with Isuzu North America Corp., Anaheim, Calif.

Spartan’s new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, also located in Charlotte, Mich., will boast a flexible production line that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate the assembly of multiple product lines. This approach allows Spartan to quickly scale up production to meet its customers' expedited delivery needs or scale down to accommodate changing business cycles.

"Over the last 18 months, we have implemented a number of changes in different areas of the company [that] are driving increased revenue and business performance. However, when an existing customer such as Isuzu makes a multi-year commitment to Spartan, we feel that is the best validation that we are focused on the right things and making progress in the right areas," says Daryl Adams, president and CEO, Spartan Motors. "We want to thank our partners at the City of Charlotte and the MEDC for their collaboration and support. We look forward to further expansion of our manufacturing footprint and bringing additional new jobs to Michigan."

"We're extremely pleased that Isuzu chose Spartan again, as it launches this new product line," says Steve Guillaume, division president, specialty vehicles, Spartan Motors. "We look forward to delivering the same precision assembly and comprehensive quality by utilizing our highly-skilled workforce that made our first venture with Isuzu such a resounding success."