A truck's journey to Germany

In September, the Navistar senior leadership team traveled to Hanover for the IAA Commercial Vehicles. A custom LT Series truck designed by the Navistar team also made the trip to the show. The LT was proudly displayed in our TRATON hall at the IAA. This was the first time an LT Series truck was shown in Europe and it took a collaborative effort to put this custom truck together.

The truck began its journey to Germany at the Navistar assembly plant in Escobedo, Mexico, where it was manufactured. It soon made its way over to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to be painted. The truck was dismantled and repainted using a 100-foot-long paint booth. “We handpicked the best parts for this truck and developed a unique paint scheme,” said Chris Ito, Director Industrial Design. “The CATAList orange is a custom mixed color that was specifically developed for Navistar by one of our coating suppliers. It took 12 spray-outs to get the right balance. I think it was worth the effort—everyone that sees the color loves it!”

After painting, the truck went back to Navistar’s headquarters in Lisle, Illinois, for clean-up and detail work.

On July 16, the truck started its journey in Baltimore, Maryland, where it boarded a ship to Germany. According to Chris Ito, a normal timeline for this type of project is two months, but the IAA LT was finished in half that time.

The LT arrived in Bremerhaven in mid-August and had about a month to be prepped and staged, ready for the start of the IAA show in Hanover.

With joint forces, the LT truck arrived safely at the exhibition grounds of the IAA in Hanover.

There was no time to rest for the LT. Only a few days were left for the final setup of the truck.

On September 20, the IAA opened its doors to visitors from all over the world. TRATON presented the LT Series as well as commercial vehicles from other partners.