Navistar settles class-action lawsuit regarding MaxxForce engines

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Updated May 31, 2019
Navistar

Navistar, maker of International Trucks, has entered into a $159 million class-action settlement with fleets and truck owners who purchased model year 2011-2014 11-liter and 13-liter MaxxForce engines — a now-defunct engine line from Navistar that allegedly contained defects and piled up millions of dollars in warranty claims for the company. The fallout from the MaxxForce line also led to several years of multi-billion dollar losses for Navistar.

The company has in the past five years piloted a financial turnaround and revamped its product line, shedding the truck and engine models that plagued the company in its pursuit of an EGR-only solution to meeting 2010 federal emissions standards. It now offers its A26 engine in a 12-liter option, and customers can spec tractors with a 15-liter Cummins.

In an 8-K form filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Navistar notified shareholders of the pending charge-out and settlement. A Navistar spokesperson confirmed the settlement, saying that it will be taken in the second quarter of this year. It remains subject to court approval, and it does not apply to the MaxxForce 15-liter engine, the company said.

The settlement “denies all claims…wrongdoing, liability or damage of any kind, and denies that [Navistar] acted improperly or wrongfully in any way,” the 8-K states. It’s unclear how many members of the class might be eligible for a portion of the settlement.

Navistar in 2016 settled a probe by the SEC into whether the company misled shareholders, paying $7.5 million to end the investigation. Navistar was the only engine maker in 2012 to pursue an EGR-only strategy to meet federal emissions standards, with all others opting to use the DEF-based selective catalytic reduction system. Navistar later abandoned the strategy and switched to an SCR system.

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