Navistar and Ford Settle Their Differences

by John Horner

Published: January 15th, 2009

navistar and ford settle their differences

The long running Navistar/Ford dispute over warranty claims, pricing and other supply details vis-à-vis the Navistar-made Powerstroke diesel engines is over. The official press release [via Yahoo! News] gets right to the point: “Ford Motor Company and Navistar International Corporation have reached an agreement to restructure their ongoing business relationship and settle all existing litigation between the companies.” The engine supply deal is officially dead as of December 31, 2009. Cash is changing hands, but nobody is saying how much: “As a result of the agreement, Ford will make a payment to Navistar.” The South American and Blue Diamond F-650/750 joint projects will continue, for now. Cummins is the supplier of record for Ford branded F-650 and F-750 diesel engines but the trucks are actually produced in Mexico based on a Navistar design. International, meanwhile, sells version of the same trucks with its own engines.

Outside of the Blue Diamond deal, Navistar seems to be backing away as fast as possible from the 2.8. Navistar recently pulled out of a deal to buy GM’s remaining large truck business, and now they are out of the Super Duty engine supply game. Ford’s new in-house 4.4 liter Powerstroke design is a done deal for that magical model year 2010. Little love seems to be lost between the Powerstroke owner’s community and Navistar, so don’t expect a big run on the remaining 08/09 Navistar powered Super Duty trucks.

John Horner

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Fallout11 on Jan 16, 2009

The Navistar-sourced 6.0L powerstroke diesel engines were unmitigated garbage, a fitting match for a '72 Vega but not much else. Navistar thought they had Ford by the balls with contract legalese, committing them to continued payment and acceptance of substandard manufactured engines for the duration without recourse. Apparently Ford saw things differently and decided that even a breach of contract punitive award was worth it to get out of, as JGH correctly compared, a Firestone-like situation.

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Anonymous on Jan 16, 2009

The 6.4 Stroker not much better. 7 count em 7 radiators and coolers in front of a cramped engine bay. And when your Ford dealer needs to replace the Powerstroke? No problem. They only need to remove the entire cab assembly from the frame to do the job! In the light and medium duty arena the Cummins and Duramax are far superior.

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