Navistar future hangs in the balance

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The future of Navistar's Fort Wayne operations is in doubt now that the company has identified a primary focus in the search for a new headquarters.

A Navistar spokesperson told NewsChannel 15 on Thursday, the company considers Lisle, Illinois to be the primary focus in its search for a new headquarters.

"The primary focus right now in the search is Lisle, but beyond that I just don't want to speculate," said Dennis Culloton, spokesman and consultant for Navistar.

Lisle was the company's original choice from the beginning before a group of opponents protested the move during the planning and zoning process. At that time, The village was all but ruled out in May. At that time, Fort Wayne stepped up its efforts to keep Navistar in the Summit City. Recently the company talked to Illinois officials, and it appears Navistar has changed its mind.

"We're going to continue to fight, I haven't heard anything yet from Navistar, the mayor of Lisle, Illinois hasn't heard anything, our governor's not heard anything, and that's what happens a lot of times when you have something like this at stake," said Mayor Tom Henry, (D) Fort Wayne.

Navistar is under contract with a piece of property at 2600 Warrenville Road in Lisle, Illinois, but the company is yet to officially purchase the building.

The global automotive manufacturing company has been looking to consolidate and relocate for months. Currently, Navistar is headquarted in Warrenville, Illinois.

Navistar has not set a timetable for a decision to made on the relocation, but a spokesperson told NewsChannel 15 the company might be anxious to put some closer to the issue so it can move forward.

Navistar International Corporation employs over 14,000 people across the world. The truck design and technology center in Fort Wayne has about 1,400 employees. The company's products, parts, and services are sold through a network of nearly 1,000 dealer outlets in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico and more than 60 dealers in 90 countries throughout the world. The company also provides financing for its customers and distributors principally through its wholly owned subsidiary, Navistar Financial Corporation.