Navistar Engine Group celebrated the 75th anniversary of its first production diesel engine, the D-40, with the dedication of a facility in Huntsville, Alabama, that will build its newest diesel engine family, MaxxForce Big Bore.
Navistar Chairman, President and CEO, Dan Ustian, and Engine Group President, Jack Allen, spoke to a crowd of global OEM customers and prospects, local dignitaries and Navistar employees, delivering a retrospective look at the company’s 75 years of diesel engine production leadership and a visionary look forward at where the diesel technology leader is heading.
“This milestone is about much more than an anniversary,” said Ustian. “This is about our scientists, designers, engineers and manufacturing personnel around the world, who for decades have been responsible for the performance and quality that made reaching this point possible.”
The MaxxForce Big Bore Assembly facility is the newest addition to Navistar’s roster of global engine facilities. With operations now underway, the 300,000-square-foot plant produces the MaxxForce 11 and MaxxForce 13.
In 1933 Navistar, then International Harvester, launched its first production diesel, a 50 horsepower four-cylinder engine for stationary and agricultural applications, and effectively began its legacy. For the next 75 years, significant milestones include the introduction of the DT 466, the Ford Power Stroke Diesel, the first smokeless diesel engine, the first fully electronically controlled Mid-range commercial diesel and the Green Diesel Technology platform which led the way for today’s advanced clean diesel technologies.
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