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Filter Mission Mobility Special Feature. Beginning in the s, Navistar builds engines and trucks for Ford under a series of joint ventures and supply agreements. Most notable is for the 2.
In , Navistar and Caterpillar enter a strategic alliance for the North America global truck severe service trucks market. After building bus chassis since , in Navistar acquires American Transportation Corporation AmTran , a manufacturer of school bus bodies. As a result, Navistar becomes the first modern-day manufacturer of fully integrated school buses.
In s, following challenging economic times, International Harvester begins selling off certain divisions. In , the company reintroduces itself as Navistar International Corporation. To this day, the "International" brand name is still used on Navistar product lines and is recognized as a leader in the commercial vehicle industry. Did you know? The DT engine, an iconic company product, is developed by the construction equipment division for heavy equipment.
It becomes an extremely popular engine for medium duty trucks and buses for decades. After building trucks and pickups for over 50 years, International Harvester develops the Scout in Marketed as an all-terrain family recreational vehicle, the Scout evolves into a true SUV and is one of the company's most innovative and popular vehicles of all time.
It was in production until Today, the Scout is a highly collectible vehicle prized by enthusiasts. Moreover, one Harvester official noted in Forbes that "the company's leadership in many articles of farm equipment [was] almost too well-established to bear expansion without charges of monopoly.
Nonetheless, the company continued to expand whenever possible. Harvester entered the consumer market for air conditioners and refrigerators, introduced a mini tractor, the Farmall Cub, for small farmers, and manufactured an ton crawler tractor for the construction market. A mechanical cotton-picker, introduced in , sold well, as did a self-propelled combine and pickup baler. Furthermore, the company's overall market changed, and, by , farm equipment accounted for less than half of the company's total sales.
Trucks were the company's single largest item; construction equipment and refrigeration equipment comprised the remainder of its product line. Harvester's efforts to reduce labor costs were opposed by some of its 80, workers and 28 unions. An innovative pension fund program and in-house promotions placated workers, but even more difficulties arose when Harvester tried to reduce wages during the McCarthy era. During this time, the company accused the leaders of the Farm Equipment Workers union of communist sympathies, while the workers accused Harvester of using such "red smoke screens" to cover up wage cuts.
Nevertheless, Harvester won an "Industrial Statesmanship Award" from the National Urban League during this time for establishing racially integrated plants in Memphis and Louisville; "Fair employment," remarked one Harvester manager, "is good business.
The company's profit margin remained dangerously low, however, due to high labor costs, poor management, an inadequate organizational structure, and its failure to introduce innovative products, many of which, competitors claimed, were merely redesigns of existing machines. Moreover, Harvester's much-touted policy of in-house promotions was actually stifling research and technological advances; most Harvester officers stayed with the company for as long as 30 years.
In , Harvester sold its line of refrigeration equipment but kept its other losing ventures and failed to modernize antiquated plants. Intent on conserving its resources, the company failed to emphasize growth and began a slow and steady decline.
Moreover, tradition was valued to a fault at Harvester; although sales for one of its truck models remained poor, for example, the truck was kept in production.
And although Harvester retained its market share, competitors alleged that it did so only by making government and fleet deals at cost.
Beginning in the late s, a series of company presidents attempted to reverse the economic fortunes of the company. Frank W. Jenks, president from to , standardized production, reduced district offices by half, reduced the number of dealers from 5, to 3,, and increased expenditure for research and development. In , Harvester re-entered the consumer market with a jeep called the Scout and a small lawn and garden tractor named the Cub Cadet. The company also expanded its promotional campaign for a station wagon, the Travelall, which resembled a scaled-down truck.
All three of these new products could be produced inexpensively, as the company did not have to retool its plants to manufacture them and they could be sold through the company's already existing distributor network.
In response, management tried to improve upon Harvester's ten to 15 percent share of the construction industry but failed to gain any ground on Caterpillar and other competitors. By , Harvester's truck line was its only viable product, comprising close to half the company's total sales. Harvester had the largest market share of the heavy-truck market percent. Throughout the s, Harvester's profits declined, as the company expended more capital and went deeper into debt.
Its labor costs were higher than General Motors; its management had poor communication channels; and low-selling products, such as the in-city truck, named the Merco, continued to be produced at high volume.
Moreover, Harvester's decentralization policy failed to allow plants in different countries to share research or manufacture interchangeable parts. Although these plants would eventually work more closely during the s, Harvester's construction products were still sold under several brand names, in direct competition with one another.
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