LAS VEGAS, Nev. –  Navistar International is looking to have its Lonestar ready for sale with SCR-MaxxForce 13 power this April.

The plan is to launch the new SCR-capable engines in April with the highest volume configurations and move to the lowest volume configurations by July, Steve Gilligan,  vice president – product and vocational marketing, said during a press briefing at the American Trucking Association’s annual conference and trade show today.

“We have an opportunity to grow back share with customers. We are getting a lot of positive feedback with how quickly we are moving,” Gilligan said in reference to Navistar’s dropping market share since the company had decided to carve its own path in meeting EPA2010 engine emissions standards by using only advanced exhaust gas recirculation (A-EGR), while all its competitors chose to pursue selective catalytic reduction (SCR), which requires the use of urea-based diesel exhaust fluid.

In late August, with its market share dropping, Navistar faced the reality it would be unable to certify its 13-litre Advanced-EGR MaxxForce engine before cashing in the last of its emissions credits, by changing its strategy and announcing it would add SCR exhaust aftertreatment to its engine line.  (Credits were earned for producing engines that were cleaner than required under previous emissions standards, but those credits ran perilously low before the company was able to certify its A-EGR engines at 0.2 grams NOx.)

Navistar International won’t apply SCR to its 15-litre MaxxForce engine. It’s instead leaning on Cummins for its high-horsepower requirements. Company officials had said that anticipated demand for the 15-litre MaxxForce would not support the cost of further developing the engine and applying SCR exhaust aftertreatment to it.

Gilligan said the company will be rolling out trucks equipped with Cummins SCR-ISX engines by January, adding they are already ahead of schedule with their plans.

“We are testing to see how the Cummins ISX engine integrates with our chassis. We don’t expect any delays. There is no modifications at all required,” Gilligan said.

Moving to the SCR platform will add about $3,900 to the price of a new engine.