Navistar International recently joined the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation to “virtually” break ground on a new manufacturing facility in the city.

On hand for the streamed event were Navistar executives Troy A. Clarke, chairman, president and chief executive officer; Persio Lisboa, executive vice president and chief operating officer; and Mark Hernandez, senior vice president, global manufacturing. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and City of San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg were also part of the event

“This groundbreaking ceremony marks a milestone for us in the development of our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility,” said Clarke.

Located near Interstate 35, off U.S. Highway 281, the new 900,000-square-foot plant will have the capacity to produce Class 6-8 vehicles, with vehicle production scheduled to begin in early 2022. The new facility will bring more than 600 jobs to the San Antonio area.

“It’s an honor to welcome Navistar into the Lone Star State’s thriving community of innovation, technology and economic momentum,” said Gov. Abbott. “The state’s partnership with a leader in commercial vehicle innovation will fuel Texas’ COVID-19 recovery by providing great job opportunities to our diverse and highly skilled manufacturing workforce.”

The more than $250 million investment in Texas is a key component to the company’s “Navistar 4.0” growth strategy, with the location of the plant allowing for significant logistics improvements and a consolidation of the company’s supply base. The new facility will also incorporate the latest manufacturing principles – digital factory, connected machinery, lean manufacturing processes, and cloud analytics – to enable predictive quality and maintenance, and allow data-driven decisions to be made on the shop floor in real time.

“Sharing these new industrial advances and Manufacturing 4.0 concepts with our existing plants is an additional benefit we anticipate from our experience with this new facility,” said Lisboa. 

The facility will include a general assembly line, body shop, paint shop, and logistics center, as well as a truck specialty center, to make aftermarket modifications on-site.