ABC Companies announced that it has entered into a strategic U.S. distribution agreement with Grande West, a supplier of electric, CNG, gas and clean diesel buses.
The ABC distributorship supports Grande West’s focus on U.S. expansion as it begins marketing the fully Buy America-compliant Vicinity heavy-duty mid-size bus, the Vicinity Lightning EV and Vicinity LT light-duty models to new and existing customers.
Under the new agreement, ABC will distribute the manufacturer’s Vicinity heavy-duty vehicles throughout the Western United States, from Texas to California. The Vicinity line fills in key transit and private shuttle markets within the ABC portfolio of new vehicles for these locations, enhancing the offering to current customers while expanding to other sectors.
“As we continue to expand our portfolio offering, our main goal is to provide more choice and price points for operators in the private ground transportation and public transit segments,” said Roman Cornell, President of ABC Companies, in a statement. “Our distribution agreement with Grande West enables ABC to offer its proven record of customer sales, service and support with a proven high-quality Buy America-compliant product line.”
Stellar testing results
Cornell added that the deal between the two companies came after an extensive search that showed the Vicinity product line achieved best-in-class results across a number of the Federal Transit Authority’s Altoona Testing procedures.
“The 12-year, 500,000-mile heavy-duty testing regime demonstrated stellar results for fuel economy, structural durability, and maintenance and repairs. This solidified our decision to bring the Vicinity line into the ABC product portfolio as our customers expect us to find and bring high-quality products to their operations,” Cornell said.
With shifting priorities across the spectrum of ground transportation providers, ABC looks to deepen its product line to effectively provide the versatility and single-source convenience operators need, he said.
“Our customers’ needs drive our strategic priorities,” Cornell said. “The Grande West Vicinity lineup offers added flexibility and choice to our transit customer base, who already utilize ABC’s parts and maintenance services. It’s also a great fit for our private operators, who want to use mid-size vehicles for a variety of fleet applications like local transportation contracts, line runs and shuttle service.”
Expands battery-electric portfolio
The new agreement also expands ABC’s growing battery-electric portfolio, which currently spans from passenger transport vans to 45-foot motorcoaches, as well as double-deck zero-emission vehicles. With decades of experience in sales, technical, repair and maintenance support, ABC is committed to supporting heavy-duty mid-size market users who can leverage the expertise of a proven market leader.
“We are proud to announce our distribution partnership with ABC, representing an excellent addition to our reach in the United States, particularly as we begin to market our Buy America compliant Vicinity buses to new and existing customers,” said William Trainer, President and CEO of Grande West.
Trainer added that ABC’s well-established reputation for EV sales in California will prove invaluable as the company brings its new Vicinity Lightning EV bus to the West Coast market.
“We look forward to working closely with Roman and the ABC team going forward,” he said.
