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Top brass from the two companies sat down with the North American press for a roundtable discussion of the new partnership and what it means for both companies as well as Navistar's existing North American fleet customers and dealers. "We are looking forward to a successful alliance," said Andreas Renschler, CEO of Volkswagen Truck & Bus. "Navistar needs what we can offer drivetrain-wise – including engine, transmission and axle. [Volk- swagen] is at the moment developing new product lines, and we can put all the requirements from Navistar into that development." Dialogue between Navistar and Volkswagen – which also operates the MAN and Scania business units in Europe and abroad – began a year ago on opportunities to synergize and strengthen each company, culminat- ing in Volkswagen's recent invest- ment. "You see a lot of change [in the trucking industry], and we are excited to have found a partner that looks at future the way we do and with whom we have a high degree of alignment," said Troy Clarke, CEO of Navistar. "We have a common vi- sion on how the industry will develop and how to address those issues. That we can do it better together makes it a perfect fit." With its investment, Volkswagen now has an equal stake with Navistar's two largest existing shareholders, according to Navistar CFO Walter Borst. "We'll be able to explore ad- vanced technologies, and for Navis- tar to do that on our own would be cost-prohibitive," he added. The timing of Volkswagen's invest- ment couldn't be better for Navistar, a company that is climbing back from the ill-fated decision to pursue exhaust gas recirculation technol- ogy to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 emissions standards when the rest of the indus- try ultimately went with a selective catalytic reduction solution. "Unfortunately we turned left and they went right," said Clarke. "We have done a lot to repair ourselves and make us a good partner but also are a good standalone company. Our business is operating as well as it has in a long time. This [partnership] doesn't solve all the problems our company has, but it creates oppor- tunities we didn't have a few weeks ago." Clarke said customer reaction from both large fleets and Navistar's dealer network has been extremely positive in the two weeks since the announce- ment, but added that customers shouldn't look for a new engine solu- tion in the next few years. "We are going to look at where the industry will be 10 to 15 years from now and work back from that point," said Clarke, but added the two companies will look for immedi- ate opportunities to create working processes on new projects. "We are looking forward to under- standing where those opportunities 4 www.bigrigowner.com N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 6 Cover Story