Navistar drops India joint ventures

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LISLE, Ill., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. of India has bought out a U.S. company's shares in two joint venture companies.

The joint venture companies with Navistar International Corp. were Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd and Mahindra Navistar Engines Pvt. Ltd.

Navistar last December announced its plan to pull out of the ventures as part of its strategy of strengthening its North American core businesses and pursuing near-term initiatives to improve the company's return on invested capital performance.

"Mahindra has been a valuable partner these last seven years and they are well-equipped to move the MNAL and MNEPL businesses forward as the Indian market continues to develop," said Troy Clarke, president and chief operating officer, Navistar. "We thank Mahindra for their collaboration and appreciate their support in our decision to redirect our resources to other near-term opportunities for Navistar."

Navistar said its agreement with Mahindra allows it to continue sourcing components from India and Mahindra would continue to provide engineering services to Navistar.

"The Navistar group will continue to support M&M through license agreements and extend necessary support to MNAL and MNEPL for the purposes of business continuity," Navistar said.