The company also debuted a new logo.
In a release, the company said the rebranding is “driven by a shift in strategy to transform the business into a solutions provider, and the role the International brand can play in a streamlined customer and user experience.”
“After more than 120 years, we are choosing to return to our roots as International,” Tobias Glitterstam, chief strategy and transformation officer, said in a statement. “International embodies determination, partnership, and collaboration in meeting every challenge with a solution.”
The “international” appellation has a history in Springfield. As does the company itself.
The lineage of Navistar and its corporate predecessors can be traced to the early 1900s when a merger resulted in the then-named International Harvester Co. But the story goes back even further.
The McCormicker Harvester Co., started by inventor Cyrus McCormick, was established back in 1847. The other part of the merger, the Deering Harvester Co., was founded by William Deering in 1874. Both companies focused on agricultural machinery at the time.
The company was acquired by Traton Group, a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, in July 2021. Navistar reported in the second quarter this year that its revenues fell 21% year over year to $2.437 billion from $3.092 billion. Navistar’s adjusted operating profit fell to $65.2 million in the second quarter from $186.8 million a year earlier.
Navistar is a major employer in Clark County, with more than 1,800 workers at its Springfield manufacturing plant and thousands of retirees living in the area.
Questions were sent to a spokesman for the company.
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