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| Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively? (298075) | |
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Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively? |
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Posted by Pink Jazz on Mon Sep 22 18:58:59 2014 I have been thinking about this, and was thinking about interesting parallels between Gillig and Airbus. Like Airbus does with many airlines compared to Boeing, Gillig is known to underbid in many RFPs compared to New Flyer, especially with smaller TAs.So, would it be correct to say that New Flyer is the Boeing of the transit bus industry, while Gillig is the Airbus of the transit bus industry? |
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Re: Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively? |
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Posted by kcram3500 on Mon Sep 22 22:35:42 2014, in response to Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively?, posted by Pink Jazz on Mon Sep 22 18:58:59 2014. Gillig keeps their costs down by going after specific targets. They don't build for the big TAs - Northeast Corridor, Chicago, Los Angeles - they go for the smaller operations that won't customize as much. That's always been their strategy. It's not that they low-ball; they don't have to change their product - the customer picks color, seats, and other minor things... the rest of the bus will be like every other Gillig. NF is far more willing to customize their product for each customer, right down to the shape/size of the door glass. That raises the price, because parts aren't as standardized. |
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Re: Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively? |
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Posted by busdude2 on Tue Sep 23 06:49:28 2014, in response to Re: Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively?, posted by kcram3500 on Mon Sep 22 22:35:42 2014. Gillig is smart to stick with smaller markets. Not to get too big and not bite off more than they can handle. |
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Re: Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively? |
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Posted by daimler.buses on Tue Sep 23 06:53:24 2014, in response to Re: Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively?, posted by kcram3500 on Mon Sep 22 22:35:42 2014. You can customize just as many "little things" on a transit bus regardless of manufacturer. I also disagree on the perception that Gillig doesn't go after big customers - they may not go after the huge organizations but places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Portland, Oakland are all big customers that have their own unique set of specifications that Gillig has been successful in meeting. |
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Re: Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively? |
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Posted by kcram3500 on Tue Sep 23 08:19:46 2014, in response to Re: Are New Flyer and Gillig the Boeing and Airbus of the transit bus industry, respectively?, posted by daimler.buses on Tue Sep 23 06:53:24 2014. Those are not considered large TAs. Portland and Pittsburgh have less than 900 total buses each, Oakland has a little over 600, and Cleveland has less than 500 (2013 fleet numbers). Those are the customers Gillig wants... small-to-medium operators that aren't going to ask for major customization, who aren't ordering mass quantities, and need to keep costs down. |
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