Navistar talks ‘turn-around story,’ switch to SCR

Updated Mar 21, 2013

20130320 111313In the midst of what company officials call a “great turn-around story,” Navistar today updated its current financial and product situations at the Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, Ky.

New company CEO Troy Clarke noted in his opening remarks that Navstar’s current cash flow balance is better than anticipated. That, Clarke says, combined with reinforced internal control issues to insure product validation, a rapid-response team to deal with “legacy issues,” and ahead-of-schedule Cummins ISX15-equipped ProStar+ trucks has lead to a 25 percent boost in Navistar stock price per share and are strong signals the company is “headed in the right direction.”

“We have delivered on every promise we’ve made — ahead of schedule,” Clarke stressed. “We are moving forward thanks to our partnerships and will remain focused on the North America trucking industry moving forward. And although we remain committed to our turn-around process, we feel this is a time that we can start to look forward; and I can tell you there’s a lot of good stuff coming from Navistar very soon.”

Clarke’s theme was carried over by Jack Allen, president, North America Truck and Parts for Navistar, who noted that the company was “shifting momentum” with 1,100 Cummins-equipped ProStar+ trucks already built and more coming. “The last time we offered Cummins in our ProStar+, back in 2008 – 2009, we were selling 13,000 to 14,000 of those trucks a year,” Allen says. “So we feel this move is a very positive one for our company.”

Complimenting the 15-liter Cummins engine will be Navistar’s SCR version of its MAXXForce 13-liter diesel, which Allen noted is mere weeks away from entering into full-scale product with production trucks on display at Navistar’s Mid-America booth. “We’ll have nearly 1 million test miles behind this engine when we launch it,” Allen says. “We feel it will an ideal engine more most fleets, offering them a highly efficient fuel economy solution.”

Navistar’s “Project Horizon” prototype tractor dominates the booth display here at Mid-America, and both Clarke and Allen pointed to this highly advanced vehicle as solid evidence of Navistar’s technological push forward. “This concept truck is loaded with advanced powertrain, ergonomic and aerodynamic technologies,” Clarke explained. “But this is not a long-term test truck. These are technologies we are fully committed to introducing in the next 24 to 36 months.”

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