Prior to opening its own factory, Neoplan broke into the United States transit market by licensing a 30-foot (9 m) long bus design to Gillig, who assembled and sold it as the Gillig-Neoplan from 1976 to 1978.

[9] When Neoplan USA opened in 1981, company officials said the plant would employ up to 500 people, and manufacture as many as 500 vehicles a year on two assembly lines.

One Milwaukee transit official called Neoplan USA "totally disorganized" and lacking quality control.

Fairfax County Supervisor Joseph Alexander, a member of the WMATA Board and then-president of the American Public Transportation Association, criticized the decision to proceed with Neoplan USA bus purchases, stating Neoplan USA buses were frequently defective and that other transit systems had filed complaints.

[20] Neoplan USA won the bid for Metro because they had underbid General Motors, a competing bus manufacturer, by $275,000.

[27] The cracks were in the undercarriage of the buses, "...in a weld joining a steel frame above the rear axle with a component that helps support the bus suspension system.

A NHTSA investigation found the fire was due to excessive amperage in a protective circuit breaker and an absence of a cutoff switch.

In a letter dated May 3, 1985, Neoplan USA stated there "is no safety-related basis for the vehicles currently being held out of service", adding the actions by Metro were "unreasonable and unjustified.

"[31] Since the early 1980s Neoplan USA assembled buses for Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD), which later became the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA).

On January 4, 2000, a report by LACMTA Inspector General Arthur Sinai cited multiple issues with 250 new Neoplan USA buses delivered between 1997 and 1999.

Buses delivered under the 1982 PennDOT contract were subject to premature corrosion and required costly repairs, prompting a state investigation.

[34] Port Authority of Allegheny County (PA Transit), serving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, negotiated a settlement for $1.7 million in 1990 relating to the premature corrosion issues.

[35] PA Transit later bought 159 low floor buses from Neoplan USA that entered service in 1999, at a total cost of $47.7 million, or up to $300,000 apiece.

By the time testing concluded in May 1995 with 15,000 miles (24,000 km) accumulated, numerous cracks had been found in 10 different places in the steel frame, air cooler outlet and axle mounts.

[41] The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) began taking delivery of 230 Neoplan USA buses in April 2000, equipped with cleaner-burning diesel engines.

[45] Articulated buses from Neoplan USA acquired by Muni in 2001 also exhibited issues, with the brake slack adjusters requiring replacement after 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of service, just 1⁄10th of the typical maintenance interval.

After the June 30, 2005, deadline passed, Neoplan USA stated it could not continue its operations without payment and abandoned its bus overhaul yard in San Francisco in late September, leaving behind 98 unrepaired buses but taking all of its spare parts away.

[51] Neoplan USA also discontinued its entire luxury motorcoach line (Cityliner, Skyliner, Starliner, and Spaceliner) in 2002, concentrating on its transit buses.

[54] In August 2003, the company sold a small equity share to its lenders to reduce its outstanding loans by 75 percent, and announced its corporate headquarters would move from Lamar to Denver one year later, saving customers and suppliers a three-hour drive.

[1] Neoplan USA was the sole bidder; because of the small size and specialized manufacturing needed for the order, MBTA was granted a waiver to Buy America requirements, as the buses would be assembled in Germany.

On November 15, 2005, Neoplan USA announced it would close its Lamar plant on January 13 after failing to raise $10 million in new capital.

[52] In its last few months of operation, Neoplan USA had fallen on hard times, such as warranty issues with San Francisco's MUNI and cash-flow problems after Boston's MBTA canceled an order due to late deliveries.