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ENC (company)

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ENC (formerly El Dorado National–California, after which the company's name is derived) is an American manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses with its headquarters and main factory in Riverside, California, and owned by Rivaz Inc.

ENC
Formerly
  • ElDorado National–California
  • National Coach Corporation
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryAutomotive
HeadquartersRiverside, California, U.S.
ProductsTransit buses
ParentRivaz, Inc.
Websiteeldorado-ca.com

The company was founded in 1975 as National Coach Corporation and combined with ElDorado Motors, a Kansas-based builder of cutaway buses in 1991 to become El Dorado National–California and El Dorado National–Kansas. The combined El Dorado National became one of the leading suppliers of light-duty and mid-size buses for the airport/hotel/rental car shuttle bus markets and local transit operators with smaller fleets. In the early 2000s, the California plant further diversified into the heavy-duty transit market, introducing the mid-size E-Z Rider and full-size Axess bus, which are marketed to major municipal fleet operators.

In 2020, the Kansas-based cutaway bus manufacturing business was spun off as ElDorado and sold to Forest River. Plans to shut down ENC were originally announced in early 2024 but REV Group, which owned the company, sold the business to Rivaz instead.[1]

History

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El Dorado National Transmark (now called the XHF) in Zion National Park

ENC started as National Coach, which built recreational vehicles and mid-size buses in California.[2][3]

National Coach was founded in 1975 by William Feldman and Thomas Hollenbeck in Gardena, California, later expanding with a second factory in Chino in 1984,[4] and a third facility in Carson.[5] The company was best known for developing the Escort, a shuttle bus used by airport car rental agencies and hotels,[5] and the Landmark line of cutaway buses.[6]

In 1991, National was purchased by Thor Industries, a recreational vehicle and bus manufacturer. Thor combined National with its other bus building business, the ElDorado Motor Corporation based in Kansas. National would begin operating as ElDorado National–California (ENC), while ElDorado would become ElDorado National–Kansas. While the Kansas group would concentrate on cutaway buses, the California operation would largely focus on building medium-duty shuttle buses for universities, airport hotels, small transit fleets, and car rental services.[7]

 
ENC Axess bus operated by Los Angeles Metro

In the early 2000s, ElDorado National–California expanded into the heavy-duty bus business with the mid-size E-Z Rider and full-size Axess buses. Heavy-duty buses are typically purchased by government-funded public transport services and are required to pass independent, rigorous 12-year/500,000-mile longevity testing at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute in Altoona to qualify for federal subsidies. To enable the new production and bring all of its workers under one roof, ENC broke ground in June 2003 on a new manufacturing site in Riverside, California, more than doubling factory floor space to 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2).[8] The facility, which opened in December 2003, was equipped with an exterior water testing system, a CNG fueling station, and a test track to check product quality.

Thor sold ElDorado National to Allied Specialty Vehicles (ASV) when it divested its bus business in August 2013.[9][10] Other brands included in the sale were Champion Bus, General Coach America, and Goshen Coach.[11] Allied Specialty Vehicles changed its name to REV Group in November 2015.[12] In March 2016, both ElDorado National–California and ElDorado National–Kansas unveiled new logos to distinguish their operations; the Kansas-based manufacturer was rebranded to ElDorado, while the California-based transit bus manufacturer was rebranded to its initials, ENC.[13][14]

In May 2020, REV Group sold its cutaway bus businesses (including ElDorado National–Kansas) to Forest River,[15][16] but retained the heavy-duty transit and school bus businesses and brands, including ENC and Collins Industries.[17]

In January 2024, REV Group announced that it planned to wind down operations at ENC, cited difficulty with suppliers and an extremely competitive market for transit buses as its reason for exiting the business.[18] ENC was originally slated to cease operations in October, but on October 18, 2024, it was announced that Rivaz Inc. completed its acquisition of ENC from REV Group for $52 million.[19][20]

Models

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Model Image Notes Refs.
Axess   Low floor heavy-duty full-sized bus [21]
E-Z Rider II   Low floor heavy-duty mid-sized bus [22][23]
XHF   High-floor medium-duty mid-sized narrow shuttle bus, available with matching trailers to form a two or three-unit tram [24][25]
Passport-HD   Low-floor medium-duty cutaway bus [26]

References

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  1. ^ "Rev Group to close ENC by the end of 2024, sells school bus business to Forest River Bus". 29 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Company Briefs". The New York Times. November 2, 1991. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Form 10-K Annual Report for the fiscal year ended July 31, 1995". Thor Industries, Inc. 1995. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. ^ "National Coach to build another plant in Chino". San Bernardino Sun. November 2, 1984. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b "National Rental Goes With National Coach". Automotive Fleet. September 1977. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. ^ "1978 Landmark Camper". OldBug.com. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  7. ^ Brophy, Jim (September 26, 2020). "Bus Stop Classics: Transmark RE/Eldorado – If You Rented a Car in the US, You've Probably Rode On This Bus". Curbside Classic. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  8. ^ "ElDorado National breaks ground on new facility". Metro Magazine. June 18, 2003. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  9. ^ Leighty, Justin (2013-07-31). "Thor buses". Elkhart Truth. Archived from the original on 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  10. ^ "Thor Sells Bus Business" (Press release). Thor Industries. July 31, 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2014-07-18 – via Insideindianabusiness.
  11. ^ "Thor announces sale of bus business for $100 million" (Press release). Thor Industries. July 31, 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Allied Specialty Vehicles ASV announces new name" (Press release). REV Group. December 28, 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  13. ^ "ElDorado National-Kansas debuts new logo". Metro Magazine. March 15, 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  14. ^ "ElDorado National-California unveil new logo, branding". Metro Magazine. March 22, 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Forest River acquires REV Group's shuttle bus business". Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  16. ^ "Forest River acquires REV Group shuttle bus business". Metro Magazine. May 8, 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  17. ^ Schlosser, Nicole (May 11, 2020). "Collins Bus Parent REV Group Sells Shuttle Business, Boosts School Bus Focus". School Bus Fleet. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  18. ^ "REV Group, Inc. to Exit School and Transit Bus Manufacturing and Reorganize Into Two Reporting Segments; Announces a Special Cash Dividend". REV Group (Press release). Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  19. ^ https://www.masstransitmag.com/bus/press-release/55236880/rev-group-inc-rev-group-finalizes-sale-of-enc-to-rivaz-inc
  20. ^ https://revgroup.com/rev-group-completes-sale-of-enc-its-transit-bus-business/
  21. ^ "Axess (brochure)" (PDF). ElDorado National Online. April 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2010.
  22. ^ "E-Z Rider II BRT" (PDF). ElDorado National-California. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 24, 2012.
  23. ^ "E-Z Rider II MAX" (PDF). ElDorado National-California. May 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2010.
  24. ^ "Transmark RE" (PDF). ElDorado National-California. March 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2010.
  25. ^ "XHF" (PDF). ElDorado National-California. August 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2010.
  26. ^ "Passport" (PDF). ElDorado National-California. March 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2009.
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