Navistar International Corporation (previously International Harvester Company) is an American holding company. It was founded in 1902. The headquarter is situated in Lisle, Illinois, U.S. It owns the manufacturer of International brand commercial trucks, IC Bus school and commercial buses, Workhorse brand chassis for motor homes and step vans, and is a private label designer and manufacturer of diesel engines for the pickup truck, van, and SUV markets. The company is also a provider of truck and diesel engine parts and service. The key people of the company are Troy A. Clarke (President, Chief Executive Officer), Walter G. Borst (Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer), Steven K. Covey (Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Ethics Officer).
The company’s products, parts, and services are sold through a network of nearly 1,000 dealer outlets in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico and more than 60 dealers in 90 countries throughout the world. The company also provides financing for its customers and distributors principally through its wholly owned subsidiary, Navistar Financial Corporation.
History
In 1902 the merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and the Deering Harvester Company resulted in the formation of the International Harvester Company (IH) of Chicago, Illinois, which over the next three-quarters of a century evolved to become a diversified manufacturer of farming equipment, construction equipment, gas turbines, trucks, buses, and related components.
1986s – 1991s :
International Harvester fell on hard times during the poor agricultural economy in the early to mid-1980s and the effects of a long strike with the UAW over proposed work rule changes. After the Agricultural Division sale in 1985, all that remained of IH was the Truck and Engine Divisions. In 1986 the company changed its name to Navistar International Corporation. In the early 1980s, IH developed a series of reliable large-displacement V8 diesel engines that were sold as an option for heavy-duty Ford 3/4-ton and 1-ton pickup trucks.
1990s – early 2000s :
During the 1980s and 1990s, the popularity of diesel engines had made Navistar a leading manufacturer of bus chassis, particularly school buses. In 1991 the company purchased one-third of American Transportation Corporation (AmTran), an Arkansas-based manufacturer, and the remaining two-thirds in April 1995. In 2004, Navistar re-entered the retail vehicle market for the first time since 1980. The International XT (Extreme Truck) pickup truck was a series of three pickup trucks. In 2005, Navistar purchased the Workhorse company, a manufacturer of step-van and motor home chassis, to seemingly re-enter the delivery van market.
2006s – 2008s :
Accounting issues
The company announced it would not file its form 10-K annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on time in January 2006. The delay was caused by the disagreement with its auditors, Deloitte and Touche, over complex accounting issues. In April, Navistar fired Deloitte, its independent auditor for 98 years, and hired KPMG to help restate earnings back to 2002 to fix accounting errors. Navistar disclosed more accounting problems in December 2014. These involved out-of-period adjustments, which were corrections of prior period errors relating to product warranties. This resulted in a $36 million increase in Cost of Products Sold.
Joint ventures
Ford Motor Company
Since the 1980s, Navistar has had a close relationship with Ford Motor Company. The relationship started out as an engine-sharing deal, but evolved into the production of entire vehicles. However, in May 2014, Ford cut Navistar out of the business of the F-650 and F-750 commercial trucks. Navistar had manufactured them for Ford since 2001. In the beginning of 2015, Ford started manufacturing the trucks themselves.
Mahindra Navistar
Navistar formed a joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra to manufacture heavy trucks in India under the “Mahindra International” brand, which has since renamed Mahindra Navistar. These trucks displayed at Auto Expo 2010 in Delhi, India. In 2013 the Joint Venture ended as Navistar exited the joint venture.
Tatra
Tatra and Navistar Defence introduced at Eurosatory Exposition in Paris, France from June 14–18, 2010, the results of their strategic alliance since October 2009, the models ATX6 (universal container carrier) and ATX8 (troop carrier). The vehicles appear to be based on Tatra T815-7 (T817) 6×6, 8×8 chassis, suspension and cabins while using Navistar engines and other components.
Plug-in electric vehicles
Plug-in hybrid electric bus
The U.S. Department of the Energy declared in 2009 the selection of Navistar Corporation for a cost-shared award of up to US$10 million to develop, test, and deploy plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) school buses. The project goals to deploy 60 vehicles for a three-year period in school bus fleets across the nation. The vehicles will be capable of running in either electric-only or hybrid modes that can be recharged from standard electrical outlets. To develop the PHEV school bus, Navistar will examine a range of hybrid architectures and evaluate advanced energy storage devices, with the goal of developing a vehicle with a 40-mile (64 km) range.
eStar electric van
The eStar was an all-electric van. Production started in March 2010 and first deliveries started two months later via its Workhorse Group division. The technology used in eStar was licensed to Navistar in 2009 in a joint venture with Modec and Navistar bought the intellectual property rights from the Modec’s bankruptcy administrators in 2011. The eStar had a 5,100 lb (2,300 kg) payload capacity available with a 14- or 16-foot cargo box. The vehicle was powered by a 70 kW 102 hp electric motor powered by an 80kWhr lithium-ion battery pack supplied by A123 Systems, and also used regenerative braking. Navistar discontinued the eStar van in March 2013, as part of a corporate restructuring plan to focus on current profitability.