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Navistar Inc. announced it will build a manufacturing facility for Classes 6-8 trucks in San Antonio, signaling it is bullish on the industry’s strength and the company’s ability to increase its market share.

The company, pending the finalization of various incentive packages, will spend $250 million to build the plant, and plans to break ground on the property later this year. Production is expected to begin about two years later, according to the Lisle, Ill.-based company, which expects to hire 600 workers at the facility.

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The new plant is intended to complement Navistar’s assembly manufacturing footprint, which includes truck assembly plants in Springfield, Ohio, (medium-duty) and Escobedo, Mexico (Class 8).

It also builds on the company’s recently announced plans to invest $125 million in the Huntsville, Ala., engine plant to produce next-generation, big-bore powertrains developed as part of the alliance with Traton, the truck and bus subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, which owns about 17% of Navistar. — Transport Topics