News & Events

Caterpillar And Navistar To Pursue Strategic Alliance

Caterpillar Inc. and Navistar International Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to pursue global on-highway truck business opportunities and cooperate on a variety of engine platforms. The two companies intend to focus on global truck opportunities, including North American severe service construction trucks, as well as technology development for engines worldwide.

“We are pleased to be matching the formidable talents and technology leadership of two industry leaders to serve an expanding base of engine, truck and equipment customers worldwide,” said Jim Owens, Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “As the world leader in construction equipment and diesel engines, Caterpillar is now positioning itself for growth in the on-highway truck market. This is an important step for Caterpillar and we look forward to working with Navistar for the continued benefit of our customers.”

Through this alliance, Caterpillar plans to target a 2010 introduction of a North American Cat branded heavy-duty truck for severe service applications, such as road construction, large infrastructure projects and oil and petroleum development. Concurrent with this new strategic direction, Caterpillar has determined independently that it will not supply EPA 2010 compliant engines to truck and other on-highway original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

The companies intend to work together to develop, manufacture and distribute commercial trucks in select regions outside of North America. The product offering would include a full line of medium and heavy-duty trucks in both conventional and cab over designs.

Under the alliance, Caterpillar and Navistar plan to cooperate on engine development, incorporating “best in class” technologies from both companies. Caterpillar and Navistar intend to work together on development of mid-range engines for diesel applications, such as school buses and utility trucks. This engine development would support each company’s stated path not to utilize urea-based Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology.

“In the past 15 years, Cat has become significantly less dependent on the sale of on-highway truck engines in the total contribution of our global engine profitability,” said Oberhelman. “Our global power systems business has grown significantly—in fact we supply approximately 400,000 diesel engines annually outside of the on-highway truck market. We intend to remain the world leader in clean diesel engines, and this collaboration is a key enabler.”

Remanufacturing Growth and Additional Synergies
Through the alliance, the companies also intend to expand their existing remanufacturing relationship to include Navistar’s recently introduced MaxxForce on-highway engines. The companies expect to pursue additional remanufacturing opportunities as new vehicles and engines are developed. Caterpillar and Navistar plan to explore opportunities to leverage their scale. Combining raw material and other commodity purchases is just one example of how the two companies can work together to reduce costs.