Navistar International has launched a campaign to increase its market share of Class 6 and 7 trucks to 50 percent, up six to 13 points from its current sales levels. The effort will refocus sales efforts on a segment where the company has traditionally held dominance almost since it began making motor trucks in the early 1900s, executives declared at a meeting in Denver this week.

The truck and engine manufacturer meanwhile displayed its new Class 4 and 5 International TerraStar, which will capitalize on a void left by General Motors' quitting the midrange market a year ago. The company also showed a natural gas version of its MaxxForce DT engine that will be used in medium- and heavy duty trucks.

The "Assault on Medium Duty" includes advertising, product training and special incentives for sales people that could see them earning as much as $3,000 for selling an International DuraStar, said Jim Hebe, senior vice president for North American sales operations. It kicked off with a two-day "Boot Camp" in downtown Denver, to be followed by six more such training events in American and Canadian cities by early October.

Navistar and its dealers are aiming for 50 percent "not just because we want it, but because we have the best products and the best service, and we are going to earn it," Hebe told a group of dealer sales people at a Sept. 7 session in Denver. "It's us against the pack" that includes other domestic and Japanese builders of medium-duty trucks, as well as Cummins Inc., which sells half the diesels in North America. "There is no bad competitor."

Navistar is refocusing on medium-duty after being distracted by other matters, including battles with competitors over 2010 exhaust-emissions paths, Hebe said. It now has about 44 percent of the market if measured in industry terms, and about 36 percent if severe-service trucks and buses are removed from the measure.

Boot Camp

The Boot Camp tour will hit about 90 percent of its 245 dealers, whose sales people will be trained on DuraStar and TerraStar features, and armed with arguments for the superiority of those products, said Hebe and other executives. They'll also get information on the company's Advanced Exhaust-Gas Recirculation engines, which avoid use of aftertreatment fluid required by competitors' diesels, and absolve International truck owners and drivers of extra maintenance and responsibility.

Boot Camp attendees will get instruction on comparing International trucks with certain competitors. They are primarily Freightliner, Ford, Hino, Kenworth and Peterbilt in Class 6-7, and Ford in Class 4-5, Hebe said. Ford is by far the dominant Class 5 builder, now with 56 percent of the market. Attendees will also learn preferred walk-around demonstration techniques, and drive DuraStar and TerraStar trucks as well as competitors' vehicles.

Recent surveys of medium-duty truck users revealed that the typical "convenience" customer, who uses a truck only as a tool to aid another primary business, buys only when he has to, and completes a purchase about 48 hours after he begins thinking about it, Hebe said. And he's willing to wait only two to three weeks to get the new truck. More than half of medium-duty trucks now are fitted with specialized vocational bodies, while fewer than half get "box" bodies.

Showcased Products

The Class 4-5 TerraStar is a conventional-cab truck that was designed in about a year using parts from existing models, executives said. They consider it a premium product that is priced higher than comparable Ford or Dodge Ram trucks but less than Kenworth or Peterbilt models. The TerraStar is entering production at Navistar's plant in Garland, Tex.

TerraStar is powered by Navistar's 6.4-liter MaxxForce 7 V-8 diesel that was extensively upgraded to meet 2010 exhaust-emissions limits. It comes in four ratings, from 220 to 300 horsepower and 560 to 660 pounds-feet, and is mated to an Allison 1000 six-speed automatic transmission. It will be available with three cab styles, and a variety of axles, suspensions, wheelbases, and seats to suit many hauling and work applications.

Navistar's new natural gas engine uses the 7.6-liter MaxxForce DT block with a licensed technology that burns compressed or liquified gas. Ratings were not announced, but executives said it will be offered in WorkStar trucks, one of which was displayed at the Boot Camp site at Invesco Field, the Denver Broncos stadium in Denver, and other International models.

"It's our own gas engine," Hebe commented, "and we build it ourselves. It's the only other natural gas engine besides the Cummins ISL-G, and that's too big for medium duty and too small for heavy duty."