The IC name stands for "Integrated Coach", referring to how the vehicles are nearly completely assembled under a single corporate structure.

[1] Through its predecessor company AmTran, IC traces its roots to 1933, founded as Ward Body Works in Conway, Arkansas.

While still based upon the International 3800 and sharing much of the body with its AmTran Volunteer/CS predecessor, the new bus introduced a redesigned drivers compartment and enlarged windshield.

For 2008, to improve engine ventilation, the FE was given a wider grille, with the BE and CE adopting the redesigned front bumper of the International DuraStar.

During its existence, the commercial product offerings of AmTran had been strictly derived from its school bus bodies, consisting as a small portion of its sales.

Alongside the existing commercial derivatives of the BE, CE, and RE, the company introduced buses based on a cutaway-cab version of the International DuraStar.

The FE-series (which entered production in 1990 as the Ward Senator, later becoming the AmTran Genesis) was discontinued, leaving the RE as its sole transit-style bus offering.

In a branding change, from 2010 onward, Navistar badged the International 3200 (the cutaway-cab version of the DuraStar) as an IC, regardless of body manufacturer.

The IC "wing" logo was revised slightly in 2013 for 2014 production (with Navistar script added to the emblem and to the rear bumper).

[citation needed] IC offers hybrid diesel-electric powertrains in the CE conventional school bus as an option.

The buses provide a claimed approximately 40% to 65%[dubious – discuss] better fuel economy[22][23] but cost about two and a half times more than a standard diesel bus ($210,000 versus $80,000).

[22] The hybrid school bus project features Enova's charge depleting (or "plug-in") or charge-sustaining systems.

[28] At the 2008 American Public Transportation Association Expo trade show, Navistar announced its intention to enter the intercity motorcoach segment by 2010, unveiling two prototypes produced by IC Bus.

Using wind-tunnel design, the company predicted similar fuel efficiency gains that were seen with the streamlined International ProStar semitractor.

IC Corporation announced potential layoffs of up to 500 workers at the Conway plant (which employed approximately 1,000) in June 2007.

Demand for school buses were affected by a price hike in the 2007 model year due to more stringent emissions regulations.

[32] This was just under the maximum proportion of employees that could be laid off in Conway without the company violating the WARN Act, which requires employers to give 60 days notice of a mass layoff or plant closing.

[34] On November 5, 2009, IC Bus announced that its Conway plant would no longer assemble buses after January 18, 2010, projecting elimination of 477 jobs.

The Conway facilities would serve as fabrication shops and manufacture parts, but would no longer produce complete buses.

The company cited low demand by school districts and contractors during the recessionary economic climate in the United States.