Navistar to add 300 jobs in Springfield with second GM deal

[kscarbel2]

Springfield News-Sun  /  June 9, 2016

Navistar will add 300 jobs in Springfield in a second deal with GM, doubling the new jobs from the partnership and further cementing the truck maker’s long-term presence in ClarkCounty.

The news is another sign of Navistar’s dramatically improving fortunes in Springfield. As recently as 2010, the Springfield plant had as few as 300 workers and many people worried it might close. Now the site will regain its status as one of the city’s largest employers.

The new agreement calls for Navistar workers to build a cutaway model of GM’s G Van beginning early next year.

The two manufacturers also made a joint agreement in September to build medium-duty trucks in Springfield, along with a pledge to add at least 300 jobs for that work over the next three years. That means combined that at least 600 more people will work in Navistar’s Springfield plant.

Navistar will reopen a manufacturing line in Springfield that has been closed since about 2001 to build the G Vans.

The plant currently employs close to 1,500 workers and the company has thousands of retirees in the area.

The new work is also significant because it could attract more jobs at other companies that supply parts to Navistar, said Mike McDorman, president and CEO of the Chamber of Greater Springfield.

“600 jobs over the next couple years is huge for our community and our economy,” McDorman said “These are well-paying manufacturing jobs and as we move forward as a community, these are the jobs that are going to be the staple for what we’re trying to do in diversifying our jobs base.”

The new agreement could create as much as $10.4 million in new payroll, according to information from the Dayton Development Coalition.

Navistar will receive a $200,000 Jobs Ohio workforce grant under the newest GM agreement.

The new deal will also mean more investment to improve the Springfield facility, although the exact value of those improvements is still being determined, said Jason Barlow, president of the UAW Local 402.

Moving production of the van to Springfield frees up space for GM at its facility in Wentzville, Mo., Barlow said. GM also produces the Chevrolet Colorado and GMCCanyon at that site.

The vans can be sold to a variety of commercial customers and used for purposes ranging from ambulances to hotel or airport shuttles and moving vehicles, Barlow said.

“They need more capacity and GM has all the confidence that we can provide a quality vehicle for the industry and we’re thrilled to be able to do that,” Barlow said.

The agreement makes sense for both GM and Navistar, said Bill Osborne, Navistar’s senior vice president of global manufacturing and quality. The heavy truck market is expected to face weak demand in the near future, but the market for the GM vans is much more stable, he said.

“It allows GM to focus on their very profitable Colorado and Canyon product lines and obviously it gives us the opportunity to solidify volume for the Springfield plant for a number of years to come,” Osborne said. “It provides a lot more job security and gives us the opportunity to weather cyclical changes in our industry.”

Much of the credit for the turnaround should be directed to Springfield’s workforce and union leadership, Osborne said, as they were willing to work with management to implement lean manufacturing.

Last year the union and truckmaker reached a four-year labor agreement after negotiations stretched on well beyond the original deadline. But Osborne said both sides committed to making a deal happen and built trust during that process.

Thursday’s announcement wasn’t a sure bet despite the joint agreement last fall between GM and Navistar to produce medium-duty trucks, Osborne said. GM was talking to other manufacturers but union leaders in Springfield worked with management at Navistar to offer a competitive package.

“It wasn’t what I would call an inside deal,” Osborne said. “It was an open bidding process and we went after it with great vigor.”

The new jobs will also likely offer a higher wage than similar jobs in other industries, said Tom Franzen, assistant city manager and economic development director for Springfield.

“The real positive here is that these jobs, because of the contracts and negotiated wages, are going to be higher than the average wages we currently have here,” he said. “They’re manufacturing jobs and they’re good-paying manufacturing jobs.”

Earlier this week, Navistar reached a milestone when it reported a $4 million profit in the second quarter of this year. That was the first profit the company had recorded since 2012.

------------------------------------------------------------

By the numbers:

1,500 — Estimated workers at Navistar’s Springfield facility

300 — Jobs to be added as part of newest GM agreement

$10.3 million — Estimated new payroll

2017 — Year the new vans will begin production

Staying with the story

The Springfield News-Sun has provided unmatched coverage of Navistar, one of ClarkCounty’s largest employers. It has closely tracked the truckmaker in recent years, including stories digging into its failed engine technology and the company’s efforts to rebuild.

.

[kscarbel2]

GM deal with Navistar paves the way for more midsize pickups

Automotive News  /  June 9, 2016

General Motors has contracted with Navistar International Corp. to build some of its commercial vans, a move aimed at enabling GM to produce more hot-selling Chevrolet Colorado and GMCCanyon midsize pickups.

Navistar said today that it will manufacture cutaway versions of the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans, which are made at GM’s plant in Wentzville, Mo. Offloading some van production to Navistar’s plant in Springfield, Ohio, starting in the first half of 2017, should enable the Wentzville plant to crank out more Colorados and Canyons.

A person with knowledge of GM’s plans said the move will enable the Wentzville plant to build roughly 40,000 additional Colorados and Canyons in 2017. GM spokesman Tom Wickham declined to comment, beyond saying that production of the pickups would be increased.

In a statement, Cathy Clegg, GM’s head of manufacturing and labor relations in North America, said the Navistar deal “will provide our Wentzville, Mo., assembly plant more flexibility to keep up with continued demand for mid-size trucks and full size vans.”

GM’s discussions last year with contract manufacturer AM General to build cutaway models didn’t pan out, the source said. Automotive News reported in November that a note distributed to workers in Wentzville said GM was “studying a partnership” with Indiana-based AM General for cutaway production.

Cutaway models are incomplete versions sold to upfitters for a specific use, such as an ambulance. They account for roughly one-third of the vans built in Wentzville, the source said.

Combined, GM sold 56,142 Colorados and Canyons in the U.S. through the first five months of the year. It sold 36,639 Express and Savana vans combined in the same period.

GM has strained to keep pace with demand for the midsize pickups since they were launched in fall 2014. Inventories remain tight: There was a 41-day supply of Colorados on dealer lots or en route to stores as of June 1, according to the AutomotiveNewsDataCenter. There was a 58-day supply of Canyons.

The Wentzville plant will continue to assemble the cab for the cutaway models, which will be shipped to Navistar to attach it to the chassis and install the interior, Wickham said. He declined to discuss the projected volume that Navistar will produce.

Navistar CEO Troy Clarke was a 35-year GM executive before going to Navistar in 2010. He became CEO at Navistar in 2013. He last served GM in 2009 as president of GM North America. 

[kscarbel2]

At a time when the foreign aggressors (Daimler and Volvo) are "sucking wind", laying off people in droves, it's intriguing that our two remaining U.S. truckmakers (Paccar and Navistar) are holding their own and moving forward.

While Troy is no truck guy (that's what Navistar's Bill Kozek-led Paccar gang is for), his relationship with former employer GM has been a plus.

[kscarbel2]

GM Gives Some Van Work to Navistar

The Wall Street Journal  /  June 9, 2016

General Motors wants to focus more on increasing pickups to meet demand

General Motors Co. , looking to boost its supply of pickup trucks to keep up with demand and halt declines in its market share, is hiring Navistar International Corp. to take over assembly duties on some commercial vans.

The agreement, disclosed on Thursday, is a boost for Illinois-based Navistar as it continues to look for ways to make up for the revenue lost from a truck-making venture with Ford Motor Co. that ended last year. The GM deal calls for Navistar to produce certain Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans in a Springfield, Ohio, plant starting in the first half of 2017.

GM is tapping Navistar for production help as it scrambles for ways to boost supply of small pickups at a time when low gasoline prices fuel demand for light trucks. The Express and Savana vans are now built in a Wentzville, Mo., factory where GM also makes its small pickup trucks.

GM initially approached AM General LLC, the company that makes military vehicles and other products in Indiana, for help with the vans, according to people familiar with the matter. Those talks didn’t progress due to disagreements over contract terms, they said.

Although work vans remain a hot niche market among commercial buyers, GM dealers have consistently complained about inadequate supplies of pickups. The pickups are among GM’s most profitable vehicles. It is unclear how much the Navistar deal will affect pickup output, but it provides more flexibility to keep with demand, a GM executive said.

The auto maker’s share of the U.S. light truck market was 20% for the year through May, a decrease of 2.3% compared the same period a year earlier, according to data provider Autodata Corp.

GM accelerated production of the small Chevrolet Colorado and GMCCanyon built in Wentzville earlier this year, but the company said demand for the midsize pickups still exceeds supply. It is also making moves to boost supply of full-size trucks, including the Chevrolet Silverado, and full-size SUVs, such as the Cadillac Escalade.

Terms of the multiyear contract weren’t disclosed, but Illinois-based Navistar said it plans to add at least 300 jobs and restart a second assembly line at a plant that has been idle for several years. In a separate deal announced last year, Navistar will hire an additional 300 workers in Springfield to build larger GM medium-duty commercial trucks beginning in 2018.

“It’s great news for us,” said Jason Barlow, president of United Auto Workers Union Local 402 in Springfield. “We’ve taken some pretty hard body blows in the past. We’re thrilled that GM has confidence in us.”

The assembly contracts with GM bring Navistar some much-needed production volume to offset slumping demand for its larger commercial trucks. Navistar has spent four years trying to recover lost sales stemming from a disastrous strategy for complying with federal regulations on engine exhaust that undermined the reliability of Navistar’s trucks.

Navistar on Tuesday reported its first quarterly profit in four years, but cut its sales and profit outlook for the year because of a weak large truck market.

The vans that Navistar will assemble typically feature a cab, an engine and chassis that can be modified for specific uses, such as a shuttle bus, an ambulance or a delivery truck. Navistar said GM will supply the engines for the vans. The cabs will continue to be built at the Wentzville plant and shipped to Springfield where they will be painted and assembled into vans.

[bulldogboy]

The van world sure is strange:

GM vans will be built by Navistar,  Chevrolet's small van is not built by GM but is a rebadged Nissan van.

Dodge's large and small vans are not Dodges but rebadged Fiats.

Ford's Transit and Transit Connect vans are still built by Ford (I think).

                  bulldogboy

 

[kscarbel2]

16 minutes ago, bulldogboy said:

The van world sure is strange:

GM vans will be built by Navistar,  Chevrolet's small van is not built by GM but is a rebadged Nissan van.

Dodge's large and small vans are not Dodges but rebadged Fiats.

Ford's Transit and Transit Connect vans are still built by Ford (I think).

                  bulldogboy

 

The Chevy Express full-size van platform, introduced in 1997, in sorely obsolete.

The Chevy City Express is, embarrassingly, a rebadged Nissan NV200.

FYI: In the global market, GM's Vauxhall and Opel brands sell a rebadged version of the popular Renault Master called the Movano - a modern, world-class full-size van (http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/movano-ng/overview.html).

The full-size Ram Promaster (rebadged Fiat Ducato) and smaller Promaster City (rebadged Fiat Doblo) are hideous looking and have mediocre drivetrains.

With the Ford-designed full-size Transit, mid-sized Transit Custom* (oddly absent in North America) and the compact Transit Connect, blue oval is a global leader in vans.

* http://www.ford.co.uk/CommercialVehicles/TransitCustom

[Red Horse]

6 hours ago, kscarbel2 said:

The Chevy Express full-size van platform, introduced in 1997, in sorely obsolete.

The Chevy City Express is, embarrassingly, a rebadged Nissan NV200.

FYI: In the global market, GM's Vauxhall and Opel brands sell a rebadged version of the popular Renault Master called the Movano - a modern, world-class full-size van (http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/movano-ng/overview.html).

The full-size Ram Promaster (rebadged Fiat Ducato) and smaller Promaster City (rebadged Fiat Doblo) are hideous looking and have mediocre drivetrains.

With the Ford-designed full-size Transit, mid-sized Transit Custom* (oddly absent in North America) and the compact Transit Connect, blue oval is a global leader in vans.

* http://www.ford.co.uk/CommercialVehicles/TransitCustom

As always thx for clarification-for sure the van world is a convoluted situation

[kscarbel2]

6 hours ago, Red Horse said:

As always thx for clarification-for sure the van world is a convoluted situation

Given that GM has already decided to do business with [Carlos] Ghosn's Renault-Nissan Alliance in buying NV200s, and given that the US market has [finally] adopted the modern global market van form, it is puzzling to at least myself why Mary {Barra} continues with the archaic Chevy Express range rather than buying rebadged Renault Masters (as she does in Europe) which could take on the Transit head-to-head in the US market.

What I like about the Movano (Renault Master) is that, like the European market Transit, it is available with either rear-wheel drive OR front-wheel drive to meet each customer's exact needs. (The European Transit is also available with all-wheel drive....altogether 3 drive configurations, but Americans only get RWD)

http://www.opel.ie/vehicles/opel_range/vans/movano-ng/highlights/chassis.html

Video - http://www.opel.ie/vehicles/opel_range/vans/movano-ng/index.html

[RoadwayR]

Why did Nissan spend money on their NV1500/2500/3500 instead of bringing the Master to the U.S.?  

 

 

[kscarbel2]

6 hours ago, RoadwayR said:

Why did Nissan spend money on their NV1500/2500/3500 instead of bringing the Master to the U.S.?  

 

 

They didn't spend much.......the horrible looking NV1500/2500/3500 is based on the Titan pickup platform. They're produced together in Canton, Mississippi. Both are terrible sellers, and that NV has no diesel option.

Nissan sold just 12,527 Titans in 2014, about the number of F-series pickups that Ford produces every 5 days.