With a history of transportation solutions dating back to 1902, the then Chicago-based International Harvester sold its first engine-powered farm tractor in 1906. It followed that up with an early farm pickup-style vehicle called the Auto Buggy in 1908. It grew as a vehicle manufacturer over the next eight decades before rebranding as Navistar International Corp. in 1986 to focus mainly on its commercial truck, bus, and engine businesses. Germany-based Volkswagen parent company Traton AG acquired Navistar in 2021.
Now, more than 120 years after its founding, the International name will again be front and center for the Illinois-based OEM that owned about 14% of the Class 8 vehicle market in 2023, according to the American Truck Dealers trade organization.
“The return to International is an acknowledgment of our rich heritage as much as it is an investment in our promising future,” Mathias Carlbaum, the OEM president and CEO, said. “The simplified brand structure, distinct visual identity, and clear strategy to more effectively engage with our customers ensure we can lay claim to another 200 years of success and signals a new phase of our company’s positioning.”
The company’s new logo is a simplified, modern refresh of the longstanding International Trucks logo. It replaces the longtime back-and-orange logo that featured an “International” nameplate across an orange diamond with a narrowing black line up the middle that resembles a highway (or an “I”) stretching into the horizon.
The new logo is a black diamond with a white line up the middle, stretching into the horizon. Some initial mockups of the design shared with media also feature a heavy, all-caps “International” written beneath or beside the new simplified logo.
“The logo, color palette, typography, photography, and iconography take inspiration from the intricate choreography that occurs daily on streets, highways, and roads,” reads International marketing material accompanying the brand refresh news. “It reflects the ebbs and flows of traffic, the acceleration and deceleration when navigating a city, to the twists and turns of a rural road. Beyond application to future vehicles, these changes will also extend to manifestation of the International brand, including all digital touchpoints and dealer network locations.”
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The road ahead for International Motors
International leaders said the brand’s evolution is part of the OEM’s broader transformation since Traton acquired the American company in 2021. That has included significant product launches, such as the International S13 Integrated Powertrain, electric truck ownership solutions, and a resurrected captive financial services offering, which will rebrand as International Financial.
In the coming months, current Navistar fleet tools, such as OnCommand Connection and International 360, will be combined under a new digital customer interface called My International.
My International aims to enhance and customize fleet experiences by aligning all customer solutions and data, including service contracts, financing, and fleet management, in one place.
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