The International ProStar won American Truck Dealers’ 2014 Commercial Truck of the Year competition.

LISLE, IL — Navistar announced it’s combining the manufacturing of mid-range engines as the next step in its turnaround efforts.

The company will move mid-range engine production at its Huntsville, AL., plant to Melrose Park, IL. by the summer of 2014. Navistar will continue to build its 13-liter engine at its Huntsville, AL., big bore engine plant.

“We have too much excess engine manufacturing capacity in North America and we must take action to reduce our costs and improve the business,” said Jack Allen, Navistar chief operating officer. 

In the last financial quarter of 2013, Navistar lost $154 million. But still, that’s good when compared to the fourth quarter 2012 when Navistar reported a net loss of $2.8 billion. 

The decision to move manufacturing from the Huntsville plant is expected to cut Navistar’s operating costs by about $22 million per year. But it will also eliminate 280 jobs from the Huntsville plant.

“Ending production at a facility is a difficult decision because of its impact on the many great people who’ve been part of our company,” Allen said. “We understand that these decisions have an impact on our employees and the community and we will treat our people with dignity and respect throughout this process.”

Truck of the year

In January of 2014, Navistar International won both categories in the American Truck Dealers’ 2014 Commercial Truck of the Year competition with its ProStar heavy-duty and TerraStar medium-duty models.

During its annual convention in New Orleans, ATD announced that the International ProStar with Cummins ISX15 engine with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) was named 2014 Heavy-Duty Commercial Truck of the Year and the International TerraStar 4×4 was named 2014 Medium-Duty Commercial Truck of the Year.