In the 1980s, the Hungarian bus manufacturer Ikarus began cooperating with local companies in order to enter and supply its own models to the American market. The first attempt at partnership was unsuccessful, and the second resulted in the creation of American Ikarus, Inc. known as NABI. The Alabama plant opened in 1993, with final assembly, delivery and after-sales service for buses arriving from Hungary. The creation of the plant was accompanied by the simultaneous formation of the Hungarian holding company North American Bus Industries, Kft. (NABI Hungary). The two companies later merged.
Since the late 1999s, the merged company has consistently created both Ikarus-based and independent efforts:
CompoBus with a one-piece composite fiberglass and plastic resin body;
NABI 30-LFN – a low-floor 9-meter, produced from 2000 to 2005;
60-BRT – a 60-foot (18.29 meter) low-floor articulated bus, which had been in development since early 2003 and introduced in 2004.
In 2006, the company Cerberus Capital Management acquired the shares of NABI, and later Blue Bird Corporation. At the same time, NABI announced its acquisition of Optima Bus Corporation in Wichita, Kansas, determined to retain the brands and add vehicles under those brands to its product portfolio. However, attempts to integrate the production of smaller Optima and Blue Bird buses into NABI’s operations ultimately proved disruptive, with NABI discontinuing production of these brands’ vehicles in 2010. In 2010, NABI introduced the 12-meter Sirius bus, built on a MAN chassis.
In 2013, New Flyer Industries announced its acquisition of North American Bus Industries, Inc. However, New Flyer retained the NABI brand, and production of the vehicles continued as well. This made NABI a subsidiary of New Flyer under the legal name NABI Bus, LLC. However, as early as 2014, New Flyer announced that production of NABI vehicles would be discontinued after existing orders were fulfilled. The last bus – the 40-LFW was manufactured – in 2015. The Alabama plant continues to operate, producing New Flyer products.
Thus, over the years, the company has produced low-floor (LFW and LFN) and standard (SFW) models, as well as BRT, medium, large and extra large class, single-section and articulated, diesel, hybrid and natural gas-fueled variants.