PEORIA, IL (September 29, 2011) -- Caterpillar Inc. and Navistar International will restructure certain aspects of the NC2 joint venture the two companies formed in 2008 to develop and market the first Cat-branded on-road trucks outside North America. NC2 will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar and through a new brand licensing agreement, both International- and Cat-branded trucks will be distributed through International and Caterpillar dealers outside of the U.S.
“This next phase will move the relationship to a structure and business model that will be similar to the business relationship we have with Navistar for our North American vocational trucks,” said George Taylor, director of Caterpillar’s Global On-Highway Truck Group. North American Cat vocational trucks are produced in Navistar facilities under a branding alliance. “As we have looked at the success of the Cat vocational truck launch in North America, we believe that a similar business model for commercial trucks for the rest of the world makes the most sense for our customers.”
In addition to the current CT660 vocational trucks for North American customers, Caterpillar and Navistar will also cooperate to develop a new, cab-over-engine Cat vocational truck that would be sold globally under a new, nonbinding memorandum of understanding.
“This new relationship streamlines the organization and will help us move faster and more efficiently,” said Phil Christman, President of NC2. "Customers and dealers in the global markets where NC2 has established distribution will build on their early successes with no interruption and with the added benefit of getting products sooner.”
The Caterpillar and Navistar business relationship has evolved over many decades. In addition to the truck business, Caterpillar currently provides remanufacturing services to Navistar and is also a key supplier of engine components for certain Navistar engines. Navistar currently supplies engines to Caterpillar for certain power generation and marine applications.
