How Navistar Says its Executive Changes Will Help Drive Growth
Navistar officials said they’re optimistic that excitement about their new products and an overall industry bump in truck orders will help them meet their financial goals for the year, while some executive leadership changes announced Wednesday are designed to help keep the company moving into the future.
Bill Kozek, president, truck and parts, is moving on to an as-yet-unnamed position focusing on emerging business opportunities and disruptive technologies. Replacing him is 37-year Navistar veteran Michael Cancelliere. And a new role of vice president of export, along with president of Mexico and Global Operations, will be filled by Bernardo Valenzuela, who’s returning to the company.
Cancelliere is reporting to Persio Lisboa, executive vice president and chief operating officer. Both spoke to trucking journalists on a conference call Wednesday morning following the announcement.
Asked about its forecast for Class 8 sales for North America for the rest of the year, Cancelliere said the company does expect Class 8 sales to pick up for the second half of the year, noting that Navistar’s fiscal year ends in October. “As we look at the full year, we’re in the 25,000 or so range,” he said. “We’ve seen strong demand from customers for our products, and some [factory assembly] slots are tightening up with ourselves as well as competitors, so the market is definitely showing signs of picking up.”
New products still in the pipeline
As it continues to fight its way back from its 2010 emissions missteps, Navistar has been redesigning, refreshing and renaming its entire product line.
“We’re coming out with a new exciting line of products, which is giving us a lot of momentum in the marketplace,” Lisboa said, “and we want to build on that.”
He walked through that progression, starting with the HX premium vocational truck announced early last year, through the
