Navistar to Close Union City Plant

[DriVer]

You are going to want to see this ...

Navistar Consolidates Operations; Closes Others - Workhorse Union City Plant

[ccook129]

Kinda sad it all going away,only an hours drive from my house,and I have friends that live in Union City.My neighbor was also affected,he retired from Allison transmission,and his wife work for GM here in Indiana and they just got a new 2011 Winnebago with a Ford chassis.They looked at them all for a Workhorse,none left with low miles.

[oemtech]

The hand writing was on the wall... With the demise of the 8.1L engine and no engine of size to take its place plus the failed UFO and R chassis the only thing left was the "Bread Truck" line. And that is not enough to keep the plant running. Besides the W42 was getting competition from the Dodge Sprinter chassis.

Your Workhorse chassis just joined the orphan club.....

[UFO Pilot]

Sad to hear but I don't understand the "orphan" comment? Aren't Navistar and Workhorse still in business?

[Full-Timers]

So both my vehicles are no longer in production. Saturn, Workhorse motorhome gas chassis.

[MntDriver]

This news is not surprising at all. I wonder if the upper management at Workhorse kept their jobs?

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oemtech Besides the W42 was getting competition from the Dodge Sprinter chassis......

Dale, Dodge Sprinter can not compete with full sized UPS van trucks which are manufactured by WCC Commercial. I can't stand straight up in a Sprinter whereas this is one of the single most desirable featuires that drivers are all in agreement with.

Don't expect that the chassis will go away anytime soon but maybe re-branded but that's unknown right now. UPS buys lots of trucks.

[rvjer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full-Timers So both my vehicles are no longer in production. Saturn, Workhorse motorhome gas chassis.

X2 ditto

[oemtech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UFO Pilot Sad to hear but I don't understand the "orphan" comment? Aren't Navistar and Workhorse still in business?

There is no longer a Workhorse RV chassis being made and the plant of manufacture is shut down. How much longer before the Workhorse name disappears.

Parts are already becoming a problem according to some of my customers. Uptime, better known as Sometime Parts, is back ordered as much as 3 weeks.

I have a customer that had a NEW rear end build by Dana and lost by Workhorse when it was shipped to Union City instead of the RV shop. That was about the time of the tornado. But, they still have not fixed his coach.

The same customer just had a catalytic converter fail, this is his 2nd failure and got Workhorse to replace it. But, Workhorse initially would NOT cover the labor because of the "after market plugs and wires installed". According to the customer the Workhorse rep he talked to said the plugs and wires voided the warranty even tough the originals had failed more than once. It wasn't until he got the RSM involved and I reminded him of the Magnuson Moss Act that he got that solved.

[oemtech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer Dale, Dodge Sprinter can not compete with full sized UPS van trucks which are manufactured by WCC Commercial.

I didn't say that it was in direct competition. But, I see a lot of them used inside the city instead of the big Brown version. OBTW - I have see versions that you can stand up in.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oemtech There is no longer a Workhorse RV chassis being made and the plant of manufacture is shut down. How much longer before the Workhorse name disappears.

and you know this how? Do you have an inside in Union City ?

About the name brand disappearing ... we're going to miss it if that's what it comes to but we also miss Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn and so many other of our favorite name brand vehicles.

One thing that I expect that we are not going to see is Navistar leaving any RV or commercial step van business on the table unexplored. eStar is doing well and Monaco's move to Wakarusa will add 400 jobs at that plant. Will this plant also be the source for follow on commercial step van products based on the W commercial series? We'll soon find out.

WxxD owners have by in large praise for their front diesel chassis and you can read that in any of the threads here. Somebody is doing something right. The bigger question is will this chassis continue to be a Workhorse produced by Navistar OR do we see a new birth for the product as Navistar RV Chassis?

[oemtech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer and you know this how? Do you have an inside in Union City ?

Sorry I forgot about the Fred.... a really big seller

Back in 2004 I said the R chassis was doomed from the beginning. I even had the conversation with John Krider WH rep at the 2004 National IRV2 rally. We spent about 2 hours in my coach discussing the R chassis.

I also predicted the UFO would not fly at the National Rally in Tenn.

Quote:

About the name brand disappearing ... we're going to miss it if that's what it comes to but we also miss Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn and so many other of our favorite name brand vehicles.

It boils down to $$$, you shed what is losing money or not making money.. It took the auto industry 50 years to figure it out. I am surprised the GMC SUV and light truck line still exist.

[quto]One thing that I expect that we are not going to see is Navistar leaving any RV or commercial step van business on the table unexplored. eStar is doing well and Monaco's move to Wakarusa will add 400 jobs at that plant. Will this plant also be the source for follow on commercial step van products based on the W commercial series? We'll soon find out.[/quote]

400 lost jobs in OR... and untold number associated with the plant closing. Same goes for the Union City Plant. How about the jobs lost in Canada do to the union. Bad for them good for whom ever got the increased production.

Quote:

WxxD owners have by in large praise for their front diesel chassis and you can read that in any of the threads here. Somebody is doing something right. The bigger question is will this chassis continue to be a Workhorse produced by Navistar OR do we see a new birth for the product as Navistar RV Chassis?

Unless an major RV manufacturer puts the WxxD as STANDARD model and not a option it will be so so sales... Big down side 40 gal tank...

[Joe Gilbert]

This is all very sad. Workhorse had the best gas chassis available and let it all slip away. I expect the days of the gas, class-A motorhome are going the way of the dinosaur. With fuel prices headed out of sight I expect the large class-A diesels may not be far behind.

I've often wondered why Workhorse didn't drop the Chev. diesel in the W22/24 when they knew the 8.1 was being phased out. I would think that engine would have been a great match.

JoeG

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oemtech Unless an major RV manufacturer puts the WxxD as STANDARD model and not a option it will be so so sales... Big down side 40 gal tank...

Dale, I have to admit you have a very short memory in regard to the 40 gallon tank. I was told that there is an optional tank. I can't begin to tell you how many times that I posted that any OEM can order a larger tank for the WxxD and all they have to do is put a check mark in the SPID (NN4) for the 60 gallon tank. [√]

With only a single OEM building on the WxxD (at the moment) it would seem to be an uphill battle. One thing that I expect is that Navistar will want to be is competitive by giving customers choices or get out of the RV business altogether. I believe that Bill Osborne has got this thing figured out and we'll see how it goes over the next few months.

The 389 cu in V8 TT MF7 diesel is STANDARD on the Serrano.