List of school bus manufacturers explained

• Blue Bird is a publicly held company with Cerberus Capital Management as majority stakeholder.
• In a joint venture, Blue Bird markets Girardin-produced Type A buses under the Blue Bird name.
• Blue Bird produces school buses fueled by diesel, gasoline, propane, and CNG, along with fully electric school buses.

Type C

Type D (formerly)

• IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar International Corporation.
• IC is a rebranding of AmTran, the successor of Ward Body Works.

Type D

• Lion produces Type C (conventional) buses on Spartan Motors chassis.
• Along with diesel-fuel buses (Lion 360), the company produces the first full-size electric school bus (eLion).
• Lion bus bodies are produced with composite materials in place of steel to minimize corrosion.
• Type D school buses are in production since 2019.

• Thomas is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (Freightliner).
• The oldest surviving bus manufacturer in the United States, Thomas was founded in 1916 as the Perley A. Thomas Car Works.

• Collins Bus Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the REV Group (formerly Allied Specialty Vehicles).
• Collins acquired Corbeil and Mid Bus in the late 2000s, marketing brand-engineered Collins buses in specific regions.
• In 2016, the Corbeil and Mid Bus brands were replaced entirely by Collins-brand vehicles.
• Collins offers electric busses on a MOTIV electrification on a Ford E-450 chassis.
• Buses sold at former Starcraft Bus dealerships are rebranded as Magellan as of 2021.

• Endera Motors purchased Titan Bus, LLC in April 2021.

• Micro Bird produces Type A school buses in a joint venture of Girardin Minibus and Blue Bird known as Micro Bird, Inc.
• Along with small-bus production, Micro Bird is also the Canadian distributor of Blue Bird full-size buses.

• Trans Tech is a division of Transportation Collaborative, Inc.
• Trans Tech is the first school bus manufacturer to produce a fully electric school bus (eTrans, based on the Smith Electric Newton).

• Van-Con, Inc. is New Jersey's only school bus manufacturer.
• Van-Con, Inc produces 16, 25, 30 passenger and wheelchair accessible school buses.
• All vehicles produced on Chevrolet cutaway van chassis.

• GreenPower Synapse 72 - introduced in early 2017 - is a zero-emission Type D school bus.
• GreenPower exclusively builds all-electric vehicles.

• Produced Type A, C, and D buses.
• Marketed school buses under the Ward name from 1980 to 1992 (commercial buses adopted AmTran name in 1980).
• Re-branded as International, then IC in 2003 after being purchased outright by Navistar International in 1995.

• Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses.
• Carpenter was shut down in May 2001 by parent company Spartan Motors.

• Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses.
• Crown by Carpenter was a 1996-99 re-branding of Carpenter using the rights from the purchase of the Crown Coach name.
• The Crown name was dropped from Carpenter for the 2000 model year by Spartan Motors.

• Produced Type A, C, and D buses.
• Type C and D full-size buses sold in Canada only.
• Assets acquired by Collins Industries in 2007.
• Exists today in the United States as Collins subsidiary Corbeil Bus Corporation.

• 1985

• Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses.
• Superior employees created Mid Bus in 1981.
• Full-size bus production ended after 1985 (design later used by New Bus, Inc.).

• Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses.
• Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1980; re-organized as American Transportation Corporation (AmTran) in 1981.
• Successor AmTran continued use of Ward brand name (on school buses) until 1992.

• Produced Type A, B, C, and D buses.
• Wayne underwent several changes of ownership before ending up as Richmond Transportation Corporation from 1985 to 1992.
• Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (the successor to Wayne Corporation) was a subsidiary of Harsco Corporation and ceased operations in 1995.

• Produced Type A, C, and D buses.
• Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (the successor to Wayne Corporation) was a subsidiary of Harsco Corporation.
• Continued production of Wayne Corporation products.

• A manufacturer of van conversions to Type A school buses from the early 1970s to the mid-1990s^[4]

• Produced a small number of Type A school buses in early 2000s.

• Created by employees of Superior Coach Company to continue production of Type A school buses.
• Acquired by Collins Bus Corporation in 1998.
• Since 2008, Mid Bus products are re-badged Collins models.

• Starcraft Bus is a division of Forest River, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company.
• No longer producing school buses.

• Producer of Type A buses in 1990s and early 2000s.

• Produced Type D buses.
• Subsidiary of GE Railcar from 1987 to 1991.
• Rights to the Crown name were purchased in May 1991 by Carpenter Body Works.

• Produced Type C and D buses.
• Ended school bus production in 1993; still produces mass-transit buses.

• Produced a small number of Type C and Type D buses in the late 1980s.
• Type C buses were continuation of Superior production.

• TAM-USA was an importer of Yugoslavian-built TAM buses.
• A small number of school bus bodies (Type D) were manufactured in Yugoslavia and fitted with American drivetrain components in California.

• Produced Type C buses on Ford chassis.

• Produced Type D buses.
• Kenworth subsequently sold their bus tooling and equipment to Gillig.

• Produced a small number of "Northern-Air" Type C buses in the late 1970s.

• From 1952 to 1960, Oneida was owned by professional car manufacturer Henney Motor Company.
• Oneida was purchased in 1960 by Marmon-Herrington.

• Produced Type C and D buses; best known for streetcar production.
• Perley A. Thomas Car Works was re-organized into Thomas Built Buses in 1972.

• Produced Type C buses.
• Union City is now a supplier of bodies for UPS.