Navistar International Corp. Monday reported a smaller-than-expected first quarter loss, raised its fiscal 2004 industry sales forecast and increased its profitability target for the full year.

The company, producer of International brand trucks and diesel engines, said the net loss for the quarter ended Jan. 31, 2004, totaled $23 million, compared with a loss of $99 million, in the first quarter a year ago.
"Even after adjusting for the first quarter volume increase, operating income exceeded our expectations," said Daniel C. Ustian, Navistar chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Consolidated sales and revenues from the company's manufacturing and financial services operations for the first quarter totaled $1.9 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2003.
Ustian said first quarter results reflect volume improvements spurred by strengthening industry demand coupled with the company’s on-going cost reduction and quality improvement programs and the benefits of its focused facility manufacturing strategy. Manufacturing gross margin, boosted by an improving performance from truck operations, more than doubled to 12% from the 5.3% reported in the first quarter a year ago.
"We expect to be solidly profitable for the year through on-going execution of our operating plan, continued realization of variable and fixed cost reductions and quality improvements," Ustian said.
The company is increasing its forecast for total industry sales from the forecast it made last December.
The company now projects total truck industry retail sales volume for Class 6-8 and school buses in the United States and Canada for fiscal 2004 at 328,500 units, up from the previous forecast of 304,500 units and 25% above the 263,400 industry retail sales in fiscal 2003.
Heavy truck sales are expected to increase to 208,000 units from the previous forecast of 191,000 units, while sales of Class 6-7 medium trucks are estimated to increase to 93,000 units from the previous forecast of 86,000 units.
Ustian also announced that the board of directors has approved the company’s overall heavy truck strategy, which calls for a capital investment of $150 million for the introduction of a new line-haul Class 8 truck. Capital for the program is included in the company’s previously announced average $250 million to $300 million per year capital investment program over the industry cycle.
"This is one of the first notable steps in our goal to reach $15 billion in sales and revenues," Ustian said. "We expect this product to be as revolutionary as our new 7000 and 8000 models have been and to make clear our intention to be the product leader."
According to Ustian, the new line-haul truck will leverage International’s existing high performance vehicle technology used in the company’s bus, medium, severe service and regional-haul Class 8 trucks, each of which is the leader in the market in which it competes. The new truck is scheduled to be introduced in the 2007/2008 timeframe.
"The long-haul Class 8 market is critical to our business and to our dealer network, which provides International an industry-leading distribution system," Ustian said. "Cost improvements that already have been delivered, additional cost reduction opportunities associated with the new line-haul project and the Chatham heavy truck agreements have contributed to a set of product economics that will meet our required rate of return of 15% ROA over the next business cycle."
Ustian also noted that the company’s plans are rapidly moving ahead to leverage existing medium truck and parts platforms as well as International’s family of diesel engines, particularly the new 4.5-liter V-6 diesel engine being used to compete for military contracts. In conjunction with the U.S. Army National Automotive Center, the company will unveil two prototype concept vehicles built on International medium truck platforms March 8 at the World Conference of the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit.
Additionally, Ustian said the company has a contract to provide six evaluation units of its V-6 engine to be fitted into the army’s military truck known as the Humvee.
"We offer an option to the military that the competition does not, including a comprehensive product offering." Ustian said. "This is a natural area of growth for International. We already have all the platforms that the U.S. military and other allied countries could leverage for products and services, and we are well positioned to deliver new advanced solutions to both the military and commercial markets."
Worldwide shipments of International medium and heavy trucks and school buses during the first quarter totaled 22,500 units, compared with 18,700 units in the first quarter of 2003. Class 8 shipments totaled 7,800 units, compared with 6,100 in 2003. Class 6-7 shipments totaled 9,900 units, compared with 7,700 in 2003.
Parts sales, aided by extreme winter weather in some areas of the country, rose to $266 million from $238 million in the first quarter of 2003. Shipments of diesel engines to other original equipment manufacturers during the quarter totaled 74,500, up from 63,300 units in the first quarter of 2003.