Navistar, Cat sign off on global JV

CHICAGO — Navistar International and Caterpillar finalized their much-hyped joint venture, NC2 Global LLC, which will produce a line of commercial on-highway trucks for markets outside of North America.

The Chicago-based joint venture, which now has leadership in place, was first announced last year.

"Together, Navistar and Caterpillar have moved this project from concept to reality in little more than one year," says Al Saltiel, president of NC2. "We now have a dedicated and experienced leadership team that will hit the ground running."

Saltiel brings a wide range of global distribution and marketing experience to NC2. As vice president of marketing and head of Navistar’s marketing efforts since 2004, Saltiel was responsible for all brand, product and pricing strategy. Prior to joining Navistar, he held key senior marketing positions at Sony Electronics, Jaguar, and Ford’s Premier Automotive Group.

The companies also named key business unit directors for product development, sales and marketing, dealer operations, production, supply chain, and parts and service; and each firm named three people to NC2’s board of directors: Caterpillar Group President Doug Oberhelman will serve as Chairman of the Board, and Navistar Truck Group President Dee Kapur has been named lead director from Navistar.

The 50/50 joint venture will develop, manufacture, and distribute commercial trucks with an initial focus on markets including Australia, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey. NC2’s product line will feature both conventional and cab-over truck designs and will be sold under both the CAT and International (Navistar) brands.

Separately, Navistar and Caterpillar continue to work on design and development of a new proprietary, purpose-built, heavy-duty CAT vocational truck for the North American market, which are expected to hit the streets in mid 2011.

Meanwhile, as Today’s Trucking revealed earlier this year, Navistar’s yet-to-be-built, big-bore 15-liter MaxxForce will be based on Cat’s C15 platform.