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Navistar Expects Volkswagen Deal to Close by End of March


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The Wall Street Journal  /  December 20, 2016

Truck maker posts quarterly loss and expects soft conditions to continue

Navistar International Corp. expects regulatory review of its planned alliance with Volkswagen AG to be completed early next year, allowing the companies to begin working on commercial trucks and engines for the U.S. market.

Navistar said Tuesday the U.S. government has already given its antitrust approval for the alliance. Regulatory approval though is pending in other countries, particularly in Brazil and Mexico where the German car and truck maker and Illinois-based Navistar compete more with each other.

“We’re excited to get started,” said Chief Executive Troy Clarke, during a conference call with analysts. “We won’t let a day go by without making sure these approvals are being prodded towards the right conclusion.”

Navistar reported the two companies are close to completing the details for the venture’s initial projects for purchasing raw materials and commodity components and developing new powertrains.

The company said it expects the deal to close by the end of March.

Navistar on Tuesday reported another quarterly loss and a sharp decline in revenue amid a weak demand for commercial trucks.

Volkswagen in September revealed plans for a $256-million investment in Navistar, a 16.6% stake in the company’s stock that will also give the German company two seats on Navistar’s board.

The alliance will broaden the footprint of Volkswagen’s truck business to the U.S., making it more competitive with rival Daimler AG, whose Freightliner truck brand in North America has a market-leading share in heavy-duty trucks. Daimler has been able to rely on parts and engine technology from its truck models in Europe and other markets to hold down costs for its Freightliner unit.

Navistar, which has struggled in recent years to keep up with tougher standards for diesel engine emissions and other regulations, expects the alliance with Volkswagen to yield $500 million of cost savings during the first five years and $200 million annually after that.

“On the purchasing side, we’re ready to jump right in as soon as [the deal] closes,” said Chief Finance Officer Walter Borst.

Navistar is struggling through a weak truck market as it tries to lower its costs and regain market share lost a few years ago when its strategy for complying with U.S. emissions standards undermined the performance and reliability of its truck engines.

Company executives predicted the truck market in the U.S. and Canada would remain weak through at least the first half of 2017 as truck companies reduce their fleets for lower freight volumes.

Navistar’s truck sales fell by 25% for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, as overall revenue, which includes replacement parts, dropped 20% to $8.1 billion Navistar expects revenue in 2017 to be about flat with 2016.

“This is just the trough of the truck cycle,” Mr. Clarke said. “It will end and our call is that it corrects as we go through 2017. The sooner, the better.”

For the fiscal fourth quarter, Navistar reported a loss of $34 million, or 42 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $50 million, or 61 cents a share. Analysts expected a profit of 24 cents a share.

The company posted adjusted profit excluding special items of $112 million that also was far below analysts’ forecast.

Revenue from the quarter slipped 17% to $2.06 billion, missing analysts’ expectations of $2.2 billion. Navistar’s stock was recently down 1% at $29.39.

9 hours ago, Red Horse said:

What does engine does VW/Scania  make that can compete in class 6 and 7 with the 6.7 Cummins and whatever International now calls the DT-466?

Four (4.5L) and six-cylinder (6.9L) versions of the MAN D08, from 150hp to 340hp.

http://www.truck.man.eu/de/en/distribution-transport/tgl/technology/Technology.html

http://www.truck.man.eu/de/en/distribution-transport/tgm/technology/Technology.html

 

7 minutes ago, james j neiweem said:

Bye bye IH. Its been nice knowing you. Going bye the way of the Do Do/ White/ Autocar and Mack.:(

Jim, regarding Navistar, that's not what is going on here.

  • Like 1

The 'Merican big truck market is maybe 300k to 400k vehicles a year split between 4 manufacturers... Nobody can turn a profit on that small market alone. That's why International hasn't had a new cab in over a decade and they had to go to MAN for an engine design. VW Group still builds a bunch of legacy brands like SEAT and Skoda, they know better than to kill off International.

26 minutes ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

The 'Merican big truck market is maybe 300k to 400k vehicles a year split between 4 manufacturers... Nobody can turn a profit on that small market alone. That's why International hasn't had a new cab in over a decade and they had to go to MAN for an engine design. VW Group still builds a bunch of legacy brands like SEAT and Skoda, they know better than to kill off International.

SEAT remains on shaky ground (they'd sell it if they could), and VW runs it.

But Skoda is a winner in global market sales. Always capable and well-managed, Skoda enjoys a high degree of autonomy. Unlike SEAT products which are designed in Germany, Skoda does most of its own designing.

Makes sense, given their History... IIRC SEAT was Spain's "copycat" builders of VWs before Spain joined the EU and the tariff walls fell, while Skoda was an automaker in their own right.

2 hours ago, kscarbel2 said:

Thx Kevin-This should give Cummins reason to look over their shoulder-perhaps not today but not to distant future with respect to their future at Navistar.

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