International to boost production at Chatham

WARRENVILLE, Ill. (July 31, 2001) — International Truck and Engine Corp. said today that it will boost production of class-8 trucks at its Chatham, Ont., assembly plant to 60 units per day from the present 43 units per day.

The new schedule is effective Sept. 4 and will result in the recall of nearly 200 workers.

The increase puts production at a level that more closely matches current retail demand. For the past year, International has been producing below retail demand and dealer inventories have reached a level that will allow this increase, the company said in a press release.

The Chatham facility is the primary source of International’s heavy-duty commercial truck output. It has a capacity of 120 units a day, and in 1999 produced more than 28,000 vehicles. In 2000, that total dropped to 19,000.

In making the announcement, the company emphasized that the production boost and employee recall does not signal an end to the severe weakness in demand for new commercial trucks.