Truck Maker With Frisco Division Loses $30 Million Jury Verdict in Tennessee

A Tennessee jury has awarded $30 million to a trucking company after finding that manufacturer Navistar Inc. fraudently sold it 243 trucks with defective engines.Jurors last week awarded Milan Supply Chain Solutions, which purchased the Navistar International Prostar trucks with Maxxforce engines, $10.8 million in actual damages and $20 million in punitive damages. Navistar, based in Illinois, has a division in Frisco. It previously manufactured trucks in Garland before closing that facility in 2012.Navistar spokeswoman Lyndi McMillan said the company is disappointed with the jury's decision and is "evaluating our options to challenge it. We have successfully defended similar claims regarding our MaxxForce 13 engines in several other jurisdictions, including dismissal of claims of fraud in courts in Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Alabama, and Illinois."The Tennessee company alleged that Navistar misled it by failing to disclose known defects in the trucks' engines. Clay Miller, the Dallas lawyer who represented Milan Supply Chain Solutions, accused Navistar of failing to adhere to industry testing standards, which ultimately resulted in "tremendous losses" for Milan on the resale market. He said company executives testified that the final version of the engine was never tested before it was sold to customers."It appeared the jury's punitive damage verdict was a message to Navistar that it is not acceptable for the company to cover up important defects in the engines and the engines' testing program in order to make a sale," Miller said.Navistar disputed those claims. McMillan said the engine was tested for 12 million miles prior to launch."At the time of the product launch, we were confident, based on this testing, that the product would perform," she said. "... When some parts unexpectedly failed, we fixed them under warranty for our customers, including Milan Supply."Navistar sold about 60,000 of the Maxxforce 13-liter engines, according to Miller.  Continue reading...