Lion

Company Profile

LION (formerly operating as Lion Bus and The Lion Electric Company) is a highly prominent Canadian electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. Globally celebrated as a pioneering force in sustainable transit, the company achieved historic international significance as the first manufacturer in North America to mass-produce a fully electric full-size Type C school bus.

• Official Corporate Name: LION (Historically incorporated as Autobus Lion Inc. and La Compagnie Électrique Lion)
• Founders: Marc Bédard and Camile Chartrand
• Headquarters & Primary Factory: Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Canada
• Founded: 2008 (Rebranded as Lion Electric in 2017; restructured as LION in 2025)
• Core Business: Zero-emission all-electric Type C and Type D school buses, urban transit/shuttle buses, and localized electric commercial truck platforms.

Development History

The company was established in 2008 under the name Autobus Lion / Lion Bus by former manufacturing executives Marc Bédard and Camile Chartrand. Recognizing a severe lack of mechanical innovation in the traditional diesel school bus market, they set out to modernize pupil transportation. By 2011, the company launched its inaugural conventional bus, and by 2015, the firm made a bold, absolute commitment to stop developing internal combustion systems and pivot 100% exclusively toward electric drivetrains. 

The brand's trajectory represents an extraordinary industrial roller-coaster:

• The Rebrand and Boom (2017–2021): In June 2017, the company officially rebranded as The Lion Electric Company. Backed by multi-million dollar green vehicle incentives across Canada and the US, Lion scaled at breakneck speed. It went public via a SPAC merger on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: LEV) in May 2021, with its peak corporate valuation skyrocketing past $4.7 billion CAD. 
• The Over-Expansion and Collapse (2022–2024): To meet massive demand—including an exclusive framework agreement to supply up to 2,500 urban electric trucks to Amazon—Lion aggressively constructed a massive 900,000-square-foot mega-factory in Joliet, Illinois. However, crippling supply chain disruptions, slow delivery rollouts, and a massive $400 million debt load crushed the company's liquidity. Facing imminent liquidation, Lion Electric officially filed for bankruptcy and creditor protection in December 2024. 
• The "LION" Resurrection (2025–Present): In May 2025, a private consortium of Quebec-based investors purchased the company's core assets for a bargain-basement price of $6 million. The new owners closed down all failing US factory operations in Illinois and renamed the restructured company LION. Stripping away excessive truck programs, LION successfully returned to its profitable roots: a lean, highly specialized Quebec-based bus manufacturer focused on serving its core Canadian and regional transit clienteles.

Technical Innovation & Market Impact

The engineering hallmark of a modern LION platform is its Clean-Sheet Monocoque Composite Body. Unlike traditional bus manufacturers that simply retrofitted heavy electric batteries onto rigid, noisy diesel-truck frames, LION designed its vehicles from the ground up natively for electric propulsion.

Underneath the composite skin, LION vehicles integrate high-voltage, in-house assembled lithium-ion battery packs paired with proprietary Battery Management Systems (BMS). Configured with powerful electric motors delivering instant torque, a standard LionC or LionD bus clears a reliable driving range of up to 150 miles (240 km) on a single charge.