Troy Clarke was named chief executive officer of Navistar International Corporation after the board of directors approved his appointment to succeed Lewis Campbell, who served as interim CEO and executive chairman since last summer. Clarke assumes the position on April 15.
“I am honored to take on the role of CEO and join the board of Navistar,” Clarke stated in a release. “In six short months, we have made significant progress on our turnaround, and I want to thank Lewis for his guidance and leadership during this period. Working together, we have implemented a number of important actions to set Navistar on the right path, and the company now has a strong platform to build upon going forward.
Clarke said he will focus on strengthening Navistar’s North American core businesses, which includes the IC Bus brand, as well as improving quality and customer satisfaction, driving future profitability and increasing stock prices.
He had served as president and chief operation officer of the company during Lewis’ tenure as interim CEO. Clarke joined Navistar in January 2010 as senior vice president of strategic initiatives and also served as president of Navistar’s truck and engine operations and as president of the company’s Asia Pacific operations. Campbell, meanwhile, will step down from his positions and from the board.
“Over the past six months, Navistar has made significant progress on many important fronts, including on our three near-term priorities: improving quality, meeting each of our clean engine launch milestones, and delivering on our 2013 operating plan,” Campbell said in a statement. “When I assumed the interim CEO role last August, I was prepared to stay as long as necessary to oversee the company through a transition period, and today I am pleased to announce our turnaround is firmly underway and our return to profitability is clearly in sight. I am also delighted that the board and I have decided that Troy is the right executive to lead the company forward at this time, and I am confident Navistar will continue to build on its momentum – improving performance and quality for customers and creating shareholder value.”
Lewis Keyes, a Navistar board member since 2002, will become non-executive chairman also on April 15. He thanked Campbell for his contributions over the past six monthsm, “a challenging period of transition for the company,” and called his leadership “critical” in helping the company’s board to pursue a new management path. He also called Clarke a proven leader for and valuable asset to the company and pointed out that Clarke was instrumental in implementing Navistar’s “Drive to Deliver” plan that focuses on accountability and functional excellence, driving the company’s transition to its new In-Cylinder Technology Plus (ICT+) clean-engine strategy that combines the company’s Advanced Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) with Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) that uses a urea-based aftertreatment, and improving the company’s cost structure.
“We believe that separating the chairman and CEO roles at this time will enable Troy to focus exclusively on continuing to successfully execute the company’s turnaround plan and putting the company on a path to profitability entering fiscal year 2014,” Keyes added. “In my new role, I look forward to working with Troy and supporting him and his team in this regard.”
