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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowNavistar International Corp. announced plans Tuesday to create up to 400 factory jobs in northern Indiana while eliminating 250 manufacturing positions in the eastern part of the state.
Navistar subsidiary Monaco RV LLC, a recreational vehicle manufacturer, said it would relocate all motor coach manufacturing from Coburg, Ore., to the Indiana town of Wakarusa, about 145 miles north of Indianapolis. The move will mean 400 additional jobs by next year at a plant that now employs 250.
Meanwhile, Navistar's Workhorse Custom Chassis subsidiary will close a Union City truck chassis plant where about 225 workers work, the company said.
Navistar, based in suburban Chicago, is making the moves as part of a cost-cutting restructuring.
The closures of the Coburg plant, which will eliminate about 450 jobs in Oregon, and the Union City plant will save the company about $20 million to $30 million annually after initial restructuring costs of about $200 million.
Monaco RV, which manufactures RVs under the brand names Holiday Rambler, Monaco Coach, Beaver, Safari, McKenzie and R-Vision, plans to spend more than $1 million to bring additional production lines to the Wakarusa plant .
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Monaco up to $2.8 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $125,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. Elkhart County also offered incentives.
Navistar also said it will close a truck manufacturing plant in Chatham, Ontario, that has been idle for two years. About 300 workers at the plant were laid off in June 2009.
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