Navistar Virtually Breaks Ground On New Plant

Navistar International Corp. held a virtual groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate construction of the company’s new manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas.

“This groundbreaking ceremony marks a milestone for us in the development of our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility,” said Troy A. Clarke, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Navistar. “We are excited to become part of the San Antonio community and we’re confident this facility will reinforce Navistar’s gains in the marketplace.”

Located near Interstate 35, off U.S. Highway 281 and the frontage road connecting to Mitchell Lake Trailhead, the new 900,000 sq. ft. plant will have the capacity to produce Class 6-8 vehicles. Vehicle production at the facility is scheduled to begin early 2022, bringing more than 600 jobs to the San Antonio area.

“It’s an honor to welcome Navistar into the Lone Star State’s thriving community of innovation, technology and economic momentum,” said Greg Abbott, governor of Texas. “The state’s partnership with a leader in commercial vehicle innovation will fuel Texas’ COVID-19 recovery by providing great job opportunities to our diverse and highly skilled manufacturing workforce.”

The more than $250 million investment in Texas is a key component to the company’s “Navistar 4.0” growth strategy. The location of the San Antonio plant allows for significant logistics improvements and a consolidation of the company’s supply base, Navistar said. The new facility will also incorporate the latest manufacturing principles – digital factory, connected machinery, robust lean manufacturing processes and cloud analytics – designed to enable predictive quality and maintenance, and allow data-driven decisions to be made on the shop floor in real time.

“We are excited to launch Manufacturing 4.0 concepts at our new facility, as these advancements will reduce manufacturing complexity and increase quality,” said Persio Lisboa, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Navistar. “Sharing these new industrial advances and Manufacturing 4.0 concepts with our existing plants is an additional benefit we anticipate from our experience with this new facility.”
The facility will include a general assembly line, body shop, paint shop and logistics center, as well as a truck specialty center, to make aftermarket modifications onsite.

The virtual groundbreaking ceremony can be viewed here.