Navistar International Corp. manufactures commercial trucks, diesel trucks, school buses, engines, and chassis. The company manufactures these products under several brand names: International Truck, MaxxForce, IC Corp., and Workhorse. In addition to this, Navistar produces labels of diesel engines for different types of vehicles, including pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs. It also comprises a truck and diesel engine parts and services department.
Navistar also has a finance arm, Navistar Finance Corperation, to help finance their products and service their customers.
With more than a 1,000 outlets in North and South America, Navistar actively serves approximately 90 countries throughout the world.
Contents |
[edit] History
Navistar International Corp. had an interesting beginning rooted in many companies and industries. Navistar owes its start to Cyrus McCormick, who, along with the help of a slave living on his farm, Jo Anderson, built the first mechanical reaper in 1830. With this success, McCormick established a company under the name of McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. in Chicago, Illinois in 1848.
[edit] Forming International Harvester
The McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. merged with Deering Harvester Co. in 1902 and formed the International Harvester Co., also known as IH. International Harvester Co., formed in Chicago, Illinois featured both farming and construction equipment, as well as gas turbines, trucks, and more.
[edit] Early Products and Wartime Developments
One of IH’s early products, the D-Series, was a truck with ½- to 10-ton capacity that flourished despite the harsh economy.[1] Like many companies, IH adapted its line to World War II, featuring the M-Series, a line of military trucks that would aid the American Army. The trucks provided storage and suitable transportation for weaponry and weapon-related materials. In fact, the defense line provided 1,300 crawler tractors for both the Army and Navy and making them available for export for the Allies in 1941. By 1942, the production of this equipment almost doubled.
[edit] Post-war Events
During the war, IH decided to cancel the production of cabovers and reintroduced them into the line in 1950. But this time it was different: the models comprised a hood that draped over the cab’s front. This was intended to assist items that required higher maintenance, such as the radiator, battery, and oil and air filters. The purpose was to make any subsequent repairs much simpler. [2]
Shortly after, IH introduced Scout, a sports utility vehicle intended for the commercial market.[3]
In 1957, International Harvester celebrated its 50th year, having sold more than 2.6 million trucks. To commemorate the occasion, IH produced a special pickup in gold and white known as the Golden Jubilee. [4]
The V-8 Series consisted of three new diesel engines, all of which hit the markets by 1966. The DVT-550 was primarily used for trucks medium to heavy in nature while trucks like the Fleestar and the DVT-573 made reputations for themselves as the standard type of engine in the cabover models.
[edit] Declining Sales Lead to Reorganization
The face of Navistar changed when International Harvester began experiencing declining sales to their agricultural equipment division in the 1980s. The result saw International Harvester give up its construction equipment division to Dresser Industries, its gas turbines to Caterpillar, lawn and garden equipment to MTD Products, and the Ag division was purchased by Tenneco, a company that later joined with JI Case. The remaining divisions of IH was the truck and engine divisions, prompting the company to change its name to Navistar International Corp. in 1986, giving up the IH logo to Tenneco’s Ag division. [5]
A year after Navistar International was born, the pilot production of a 444-cubic inch (7.3-l) engine began. The engine was designed for use in the medium model line and weighed only 150 pounds (68 kg) more than a standard gas engine.
Although it was a massive change, Navistar still maintained the integrity of the International brand, as opposed to IH, in the International Truck and Engine Corp., a subsidiary of Navistar.
Feeling pressure from what other companies were producing, International decided to revamp its line in 2001. To remedy this, the company developed the Next Generation Vehicle, or NGV. It was a fleet of high performance trucks in the medium-duty platform. The 4000 Series model was rolled out of the course of two years, with 7000 and 8000 Series following suit. In these rollouts, the International brand set out to cater to the driver’s needs, at the same time addressing those of the owner and maintainers.[6]
International teamed up with a German company, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, and devised a plan to advance the growth of the company and its values. Together they worked to create, produce, and manufacture parts and systems for diesel engines and trucks.
In the same year, April 2004, International signed an agreement with the United States Postal Service. The contract involved the delivery of more than 1,700 medium-duty service trucks.
International also built a set of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), utility trucks for Class 6. The company produced 24 different types at a Navistar plant in Springfield, Ohio. Customers were given the option, after one year, to keep their trucks as hybrid electric or to return to diesel. [7]
The International MaxxForce was launched in 2006 as the brand’s new on-highway auto engine, as well as the ProStar truck and the Lonestar (2008). Navistar was supposed to acquire General Motors' medium-duty truck division in 2007, but it was unsuccessful in this venture.
Most recent in the history of Navistar is the controversy surrounding its delisting on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The delisting was the result of a failure to file a form 10-K annual report over accounting errors. Navistar subsequently fired its auditor of 98 years, Deloitte, and hired KPMG to sort out the issue. The NYSE delayed the delisting due to an appeal launched by the company, but Navistar was removed from the S&P 500 Index and was eventually delisted by NYSE. It was re-listed on June 30, 2008. A busy time for Navistar, under the International brand, it also established the first hybrid commercial truck production with the International DuraStar Hybird diesel electric truck.
Navistar has also entered into a contract with Budget to produce its rental vehicles. [8]
[edit] The Company Today
Since World War I, Navistar continues to manufacture a line of International brand military vehicles through Navistar Defense. Other brands of Navistar include: International trucks, Navistar Defense, IC Bus, Workhorse, Mahindra, MaxxForce and MWM International engines. The company also has several service facilities: Navistar Parts, Navistar Financial, and Navistar Electronics.
[edit] Equipment List
- Bus (IC)
- Chassis (Workhorse)
- Defense vehicles (Navistar)
- Diesel engine (MaxxForce and MWM International)
- Truck (International)
- Vocational truck (Workhorse)
[edit] References
- ↑ History. Navistar. 2008-09-22.
- ↑ History. Navistar. 2008-09-22.
- ↑ McCormick Trucks. Wisconsin History. 2008-09-22.
- ↑ History. Navistar. 2008-09-22.
- ↑ Navistar. Biz Yahoo. 2008-09-22.
- ↑ Trucks. PDMA. 2008-09-22.
- ↑ History. Navistar. 2008-09-22.
- ↑ Company Info. Budget Truck. 2008-09-22.
