Navistar set to restart Ford engine shipments Dispute disrupted a week of production, Ford says
By Rick Popely Tribune staff reporter Published March 1, 2007, 10:34 AM CST
Navistar International Corp. expects to resume production of diesel engines for Ford Motor Co. Monday under a court order that also directs Ford to resume payments to Navistar.
Warrenville-based Navistar halted shipments of 6.4-liter diesels to Ford on Feb. 22 and stopped building the engines Monday because of a dispute over the price of the engines and warranty expenses.
Ford had stopped payments to Navistar in late January, when it sued Navistar over the cost issues in Oakland County, Mich. Ford uses the diesel engine in its heavy-duty F-Series pickup models, the most profitable vehicle the struggling automaker sells.
Ford said this week it would cut production of the F-Series SuperDuty models by an unspecified amount because it was running low on diesel engines. Ford, which lost $12.7 billion last year, was counting on new versions of the SuperDuty with the Navistar engine to boost F-Series sales this year.
A judge on Wednesday directed Navistar to resume shipments to Ford and for Ford to resume payments to Navistar. A hearing on the suit is set for March 7.
Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said the dispute cost about a week of production-some 4,000 engines-at plants in Indianapolis and Huntsville, Ala.
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