Navistar International Corp. may close some of its North American plants as new CEO Lewis Campbell looks to cut costs and restore profitability at the truck and engine maker.
Campbell said in an interview this week with Reuters that Navistar has identified steps to cut costs by as much as $175 million annually and improve profit by $52 million.
Navistar spokeswoman Karen Denning confirmed the accuracy of the report, which also noted its plans to cut 800 non-manufacturing jobs, or about 4%, of its work force.
“We are now looking at what are the range of industry volumes that could come to us over time and what is the right footprint?” Campbell said in the interview, which Reuters said was the first he has given since taking over late in August.
The report did not give any specifics about steps that could be taken at Navistar’s 18 plants in North America to lower costs. Campbell did say Navistar plans to cut engineering spending by 28%.
Asked how soon decisions would be made about specific cost-cutting measures, Denning said “weeks or months.”
Navistar reported in early September its third-quarter profit fell from a year ago and that it would review its noncore business units.
Navistar, Lisle, Ill., installed Campbell as CEO in late August after the abrupt departure of former CEO Daniel Ustian.
