LISLE, Ill. – Navistar International Corp. announced it is increasing its production rates at its heavy truck assembly plant in Escobedo, Mexico, as well as its bus assembly plant in Tulsa, Okla.
"Clearly, we’re seeing some positive trends in the industry, but more importantly, we’re seeing good customer response to our product offerings in the market," said Jack Allen, Navistar chief operating officer. "As a result, we’re increasing our second-half production rates at two of our vehicle manufacturing operations."
In the second half of the year, the Tulsa bus plant will increase its average daily production rate by about 17 percent over the first half rate while the Escobedo heavy truck plant will increase its average daily production rate by about 24 percent. The company’s truck assembly plant in Springfield, Ohio, will maintain its current production rate as several facility upgrades are completed and lean manufacturing principles are implemented to drive long-term efficiency and product quality improvements.
"In the Class 8 market, we have a complete portfolio of products that deliver the uptime, fuel economy and driver satisfaction our customers demand," Allen added. "We’re seeing strong interest from customers for the Cummins ISB engine in our medium-duty trucks and school buses. And, there’s great anticipation for our vocational truck products powered by our 9-liter and 10-liter engines that will launch this summer with SCR emissions technology. With these product offerings, we’re seeing some positive momentum in our truck and bus orders and have an order backlog 80 percent higher than this time last year."
