International LT Launched Loudly, Described Enthusiastically
Cowan Systems’ Kenneth Stiltner was among the fleet drivers who took Navistar executives on runs. Cowan operates ProStar daycabs and sleepers, and will begin acquiring LT tractors next year, said its president, Dennis Morgan.
“>
International LT625 sleeper-cab tractor appears amid clearing smoke at Navistar’s ‘Vegas-worthy launch event on Friday. Photos: Tom Berg
“>
Navistar unveiled its new International LT series in Las Vegas on Sept. 30 with speeches, videos, hard rock music, and fire-and-smoke effects – a launch befitting a “Vegas” production and a vehicle range that will become the company’s flagship model and, executives hope, the most popular highway tractor on the market.
At the event at the World Market Center, dealers and customers applauded and some trade press reporters nodded approvingly as three tractors drove onto a platform from which top executives had previously spoken. All emphasized the customer research and meticulous design and engineering work that had gone into the new model. It will begin replacing the nine-year-old ProStar series when it enters production in November.
The initial version has Cummins power, and several Navistar execs remarked that their company’s strong relationship with Cummins will continue, notwithstanding the recently announced alliance with Volkswagen Truck & Bus of Germany.
The Internationl LT (for Linehaul Transport) was publicly announced Friday morning. It is the first model that stems from Navistar’s Project Horizon, a three-year effort to update and improve the ProStar. Horizon affects steel-cab models, and the WorkStar and DuraStar trucks are now being worked on for introduction in 2017.
The HX premium vocational truck, introduced eight months ago and now in production, uses an aluminum cab, so was not part of Horizon.
During development, several Navistar executives rode with fleet drivers to learn what they want in a highway tractor. Drivers’ comments and the execs’ experiences were chronicled in a video. Those drivers — Kenneth Stiltner of Cowan Systems, Jose Reyes of Mesilla Valley Transportation and David Spore of J.B. Hunt — were present at the launch in Las Vegas.
The LT has …Read the rest of this story
