LT
REVIEW: International’s driver-centric LT
NEW CARLISLE, IN -- Looks can be deceiving. International's new LT highway tractor may look much like the 11-year-old ProStar it replaces, but the resemblance is barely skin deep. The LT retains the signature International grille -- though it's shaped differently if you look closely -- but almost everything behind the grille was touched in some way by the sweeping overhaul of the company's best-selling highway truck. The primary drivers in the reshaping exercise were increased fuel efficiency and driver appeal. "If drivers do not want to drive the trucks, fleets aren't going to buy them," noted Denny Mooney, International's senior vice president - global product development.
Navistar executives looking ahead
NEW CARLISLE, IN - Backed by a new family of products and a robust economy, Navistar executives are clearly feeling positive about the future. "We have [introduced] a lot of new products in the last two years, and we got a lot of new products coming in the next two," said Denny Mooney, senior vice president - product development, during a briefing to industry media. Those new products include the LT linehaul tractor, its RH regional hauling counterpart introduced at the Expocam trade show in Montreal, the heavy vocational HX tractor launched last year to replace the PayStar, and the new HV that replaces the WorkStar. The HV was unveiled at the recent North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta, Georgia. The HX itself represents a market segment that Navistar saw drop in half after it stopped producing 15-liter engines. "Our [13-liter model], because it was an EGR engine, we couldn't cool it at some of the power and torque ratings we needed," he said.
