Lesson plan

Utilimaster

Utilimaster, a subsidiary of The Shyft Group, manufactures multi-stop trucks. It was founded in 1973 in Wakarusa, Indiana. In 1996, Utilimaster was bought for $65 million from Harley-Davidson by senior management and an investment group which was led by Kirkland Messina. It had been owned by Holiday Rambler before Harley-Davidson. On November 19, 2009, Spartan Motors (now The Shyft Group) acquired Utilimaster for $45 million in an all-cash transaction. Spartan sold the Road Rescue division to Allied Specialty Vehicles in 2010. Utilimaster bought Union City Body Company, a competitor from Union City, Indiana, for an undisclosed amount on November 16, 2005. Union City Body bought the General Motors chassis and commercial truck business in 1998.

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Article summary

Utilimaster, a subsidiary of The Shyft Group, manufactures multi-stop trucks. It was founded in 1973 in Wakarusa, Indiana. In 1996, Utilimaster was bought for $65 million from Harley-Davidson by senior management and an investment group which was led by Kirkland Messina. It had been owned by Holiday Rambler before Harley-Davidson. On November 19, 2009, Spartan Motors (now The Shyft Group) acquired Utilimaster for $45 million in an all-cash transaction. Spartan sold the Road Rescue division to Allied Specialty Vehicles in 2010. Utilimaster bought Union City Body Company, a competitor from Union City, Indiana, for an undisclosed amount on November 16, 2005. Union City Body bought the General Motors chassis and commercial truck business in 1998.

Key claims

  1. date of foundation: 1973 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of foundation is "1973". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1375938165

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.