It’s Ford time

Ford is planning to produce a 4.4-liter diesel engine for North America vehicles some time in late 2009 or early 2010. If Ford produces this engine for the F-150, according to Navistar, it’s a violation of the contract. The lawsuit filed on February 26 states “‘¦Navistar spent millions of dollars and devoted years of its employees’ time to develop a next-generation diesel engine named “Lion” for use in F-150 pickup trucks and other vehicles in which Ford had not previously offered diesel engines.

Ford agreed that Navistar, which has been the exclusive diesel-engine supplier for Ford’s heavy-duty pickup trucks since 1979, would be the manufacturer and supplier of the new engines for the North American vehicle market.” Ford filed a lawsuit against Navistar in 2007 involving engine pricing and warranty claims on Power Stroke diesel engines.

Navistar counter-sued in May 2007 and asked for in excess of $2 billion in damages after Ford stopped honoring the terms of an agreement under which the engines were built, where they originally sued Ford Motor Co.