LAG Motorcoach

LAG Bus
Private
Industry Coach builder
Fate Spin-off
Predecessor Lambert et Arnold Geusens
Successor EOS Coach Manufacturing Company
Founded Bree, Belgium (1947 (1947))
Founder Lambert Geusens & Arnold Geusens
Defunct 1990 (1990)
Area served
 Europe, North America
Products Galaxy 300T, Panoramic 350T, EOS
Subsidiaries LAG Motorcoach (Bel Air, MD, U.S.A.)

LAG Motorcoach was the North American subsidiary of LAG Manufacturing Company, of Bree, Belgium.

An EOS 90 caught in the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium parking lot in Saint-Étienne, France, on 29 November 2008.
A 1998-vintrage Tatra Bus Zakopane EOS 200 coach in Kraków, Poland.

History

LAG is a Belgian company founded in 1947 by two brothers, Lambert and Arnold Geusens, hence the name.[1] The two started by manufacturing construction machinery, but soon moved into semi-trailers, especially dump and stainless steel and aluminum tankers. In 1974, a neighbouring firm convinced LAG to diversify into products for passenger transport. After some initial hesitation, LAG introduced a small series of school- and mixed-use buses. By the end of the decade, a dedicated LAG Bus division was created.

The Galaxy 300T was introduced in 1979. It was built on a Renault or Volvo chassis, with a DAF or MAN engine. It was also offered later on DAF or Scania chassis. An integral version was available from 1982. In 1984 the Panoramic 350T was introduced, also as a unibody coach or on others’ chassis. It achieved modest success as an export model luxury touring coach, primarily in the United States because of its relatively low price. The main difference between European and North American LAG coaches was the third (tag) axle on the latter. The lavatory’s position was also optional in America, as it could be located mid-ship on the lower level, or at the rear of the passenger area. In either instance it reduced passenger capacity by four, rather than the more common two seats.[2] In 1989 the 3-series was replaced by the EOS 100.

In the summer of 1990 LAG spun off its coachbuilding operation as the EOS Coach Manufacturing Co. and sold it to nearby manufacturer Van Hool, which also produced both buses and tank trailers. Under Van Hool management, the product line was expanded:

Model Type Discontinued
EOS 80 short low-height body late 2000
EOS 90 short version early 2001
EOS 90L 12.8 metres (42 ft) lengthened version mid-2001
EOS 100 1994
EOS 200 restyled EOS 100 early 2003
EOS 200L restyled EOS 100 12.8 metres (42 ft) lengthened version mid-2002
EOS 230 3-axle 12 metres (39 ft) mainly for the UK unknown
EOS 233 3-axle 13.6 metres (45 ft) long version mid-2002

The EOS line was phased out in 2001-2002, when Van Hool transferred production of its own T9-series coach into the Bree plant.

LAG today

In 1996, the Dutch company Burg Industries BV purchased LAG Trailers NV. In 2010 the Flemish company employed approximately 500 employees, and had an annual production of over 2,000 vehicles of all types.[3]

See also

References

indicates a web-site in French.

  1. ↑ Précisions sur un site francophone dédié aux transports en commun .
  2. ↑ Stass, Ed (1988). The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses. Woodland Hills, CA: Stauss Publications. pp. 111–112. ISBN 0-9619830-0-0.
  3. ↑ "Welcome to LAG > Company information > history". Bree, Belgium: LAG Trailers N.V. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
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