The American heavy truck and engine company – which has a Canadian arm headquartered in Kanata – said that Daniel Ustian informed the board that he is immediately retiring from his roles as chairman, president and chief executive, as well as leaving the company's board. He had been with the company for 37 years.
Lisle, Ill.-based Navistar named Lewis Campbell, the former chairman, president and CEO of Textron Inc., as its executive chairman and interim CEO.
Navistar has struggled this year amid uncertainty about whether its Class 8 engine, which is used in the largest commercial trucks, will get Environmental Protection Agency approval. Since the beginning of this year, its shares have tumbled 39 per cent.
The company said in July that it was in talks with the EPA on a plan that will allow it to continue shipping trucks while it makes a transition to a new emission-reducing technology that will bring it into compliance with EPA requirements. The new technology is expected to be available beginning early next year.
Its shares rose 51 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $23.49 in midmorning trading after rising as high as $25.08 earlier in the day.
Mr. Campbell joined Providence, R.I.-based Textron in 1992 and served as its CEO from 1999 to 2010. Before that, he spent 24 years at General Motors in a variety of roles.
Mr. Campbell, 66, said that “at the appropriate time” the company will conduct a search for a long-term CEO, which will include both internal and external candidates.
Navistar also said Monday that it promoted Troy Clarke its current president of truck and engine operations, to the job of president and chief operating officer. Mr. Clarke, 57, joined Navistar in 2010 and previously spent 35 years at General Motors.
Ottawa’s Navistar Defence Canada Inc. recently completed a $14-million delivery of tactical armoured vehicles to the RCMP.
The vehicles will be serviced in Canada by the approximately 25 employees working out of the Kanata office.
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