In a telephone conference held June 12, Caterpillar and Navistar International announced the formation of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on global aspirations in engine technology and pursue truck manufacturing. Immediate plans are to produce a North American Cat branded heavy-duty truck for severe service applications including construction and logging.
Cat also announced that it will not supply EPA 2010 compliant engines to truck and other on-highway OEMs.
George Taylor, Cat’s director for Global On-Highway says as an independent engine supplier, it is difficult to participate in a market that is becoming increasingly vertically integrated. He adds that only 22 percent of Cat’s North American market accounts for heavy-duty engines. On the other hand, the global on-highway truck market has grown to 1.7 million units annually, and these new developments give Cat the ability to aggressively pursue that market with global, Caterpillar-branded, on-highway work trucks.
Taylor says the severe service truck will be a Cat vocational construction truck designed to complement Cat’s existing equipment, and that it will be a “purpose-built truck leveraging Cat technology wherever possible.”
Mark Stasell, vice president and general manager of Navistar Diversified Operations, adds that the engine will be a Navistar-supplied, Caterpillar-branded engine, but no word was given as to whether it will be Navistar’s recently introduced MaxxForce on-highway diesel engine.
Phil Christman, vice president and general manager of Navistar Severe Service Vehicle Center, says the engine will complement the company’s existing engine product line.
Further, Caterpillar says for customers who presently own and operate vehicles with Cat engines, the same standard of service and product support Cat currently supplies will remain in place for the duration of the engine’s life. In addition, Caterpillar will continue to produce on-highway engines through 2009.
