Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Navistar Closing - A Bit of Shock

When I was a kid I leved in Indianapolis - 1967 to 1973 - I lived on Brookville Road. Back tjhen the Navistar plant belonged to International Harvester. it also smelt pretty bad. Now the word is that it is closing:

Indy Navistar plant to close :
"INDIANAPOLIS — Navistar International Corp. today said it will close its massive Eastside diesel complex by July 31 because of a lost contract with its primary customer, Ford Motor Co.

“This is a difficult decision because of the impact it has on our employees and the community where we live and work,” Eric Tech, vice president and general manager, Navistar Engine Group, said in a statement. “But the significant change in Ford’s business plans has forced us to make this decision.”

Earlier this month, Ford revealed that it no longer will use Navistar diesels in F-series pickups, beginning in 2010, ending a nearly 30-year relationship between the two companies. They were scheduled to split in 2012. The decision capped sparring in court over engine warranty costs.

The Brookville Road plant makes engines only for Ford pickups and largely has been idle since June, when orders for diesel pickups collapsed with the nation’s construction business."


This will not be good news for that part of Indianapolis.

From today's Indianapolis Business Journal, it seems the UAW got suprised, too.

"United Auto Workers officials are hoping to find a way to keep open the foundry that has been associated with an east-side engine plant for 70 years, despite Navistar International Corp.'s plans to close both facilities by July 31.

Illinois-based Navistar said yesterday it would close the 1.1 million-square-foot plant and the adjacent Indianapolis Casting Corp. foundry, costing about 700 employees their jobs."

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