Schooling the EV Skeptics

As it electrifies more of its iconic yellow school buses, Blue Bird President Britton Smith explains how its stock price is soaring in a difficult market

- JEFF YOUNG

IT HAS BEEN A DIFFICULT YEAR FOR MANY electric vehicle companies. Despite overall growth in EV sales from 2023, EV makers Tesla and Rivian announced layoffs this year as their stock prices slid.

But one EV maker stands out: Georgia-based Blue Bird has seen its stock price soar more than 100 percent since January as the company electrifies more of the familiar yellow buses it sends to school districts around the country.

Founded in 1927, Blue Bird is approaching a century of operation, and it appears on Newsweek's rankings of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America and the World's Most Trustworthy Companies. While the basic appearance of its main product hasn't changed that much over the years, the company's recent success comes amid some major changes.

As well as expanding its EV capacity, the company recently announced safety additions to its buses such as three-point safety belts for passengers and air bags for drivers-both industry firsts. Last year, Blue Bird workers voted to join a union and about 1,500 of its approximately 2,000 workers are now represented by the United Steelworkers of America. In May, the union and company finalized a contract substantially raising worker pay and adding benefits.

Conventional business wisdom might say that adding safety features and paying higher wages would increase an automaker's costs, making it less competitive as it ventures into the uncertain EV market. But Blue Bird has schooled the skeptics to become the country's top-performing EV maker.

"Blue Bird shows that as an EV company, you can still make money, and Blue Bird is doing that with every bus that we sell," Blue Bird President Britton Smith told Newsweek in a wide-ranging interview.