Pareto Mobility LLC has opened a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing and assembly facility at the Burroughs campus in Plymouth, Michigan, to produce the Step-Free low-floor commercial bus. The opening returns commercial bus manufacturing to Michigan five years after Champion Bus ceased operations in the state, and marks the US launch of what Pareto Mobility describes as America’s first fully flat-floor commercial bus.

The Step-Free features a fully flat passenger floor with no interior steps or floor transitions, accommodating seated passengers and up to four wheelchair users via ramp-based boarding rather than traditional wheelchair lifts. Target markets include transit agencies, senior-living communities, healthcare providers and shuttle operators.

Pareto Mobility founder and Chief Executive AJ Kumar, a first-generation immigrant, holds seven US patents covering modular vehicle architecture, wheelchair-accessible transportation systems, vehicle-flooring technologies and automotive engineering, with four further applications pending. The Plymouth facility will support engineering, assembly and production, combining Michigan-based manufacturing with American suppliers.

Kumar said the Step-Free would be sold through dealers nationwide and delivered across the United States and Canada. The Plymouth facility also plans to introduce digital twin and digital manufacturing technologies to the commercial bus sector, creating skilled employment opportunities as production grows.

Source: PR Newswire