Navistar Restructures as COO Allen Retires

Nov. 6, 2014
Navistar, Inc. has restructured its senior leadership team by giving additional responsibilities to three executives -- Walter Borst, Bill Kozek and Persio Lisboa -- and announcing that Jack Allen, 56, its executive vice president & COO since April 2013, is retiring after more than 33 years with the company.

Navistar, Inc. has restructured its senior leadership team by giving additional responsibilities to three executives -- Walter Borst, Bill Kozek and Persio Lisboa -- and announcing that Jack Allen, 56, its executive vice president & COO since April 2013, is retiring after more than 33 years with the company.

According to Navistar, the leadership changes were made “to accelerate its transformation and performance” and are effective immediately:

Bill Kozek, 52, president of North America Truck and Parts, has been promoted to president, Truck and Parts, and is adding global/export truck and parts sales, product planning and Navistar Defense to his current responsibilities.

Persio Lisboa, 49, senior vice president and chief procurement officer, has been promoted to president, Operations, and is now also responsible for product development, manufacturing, and global businesses.

Walter Borst, 52, executive vice president and chief financial officer, is adding business development, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate strategic planning responsibilities to his portfolio.

"Today is a new beginning for Navistar," said Troy Clarke, Navistar president & CEO, in a statement. "We are introducing a new leadership team and organization structure that will guide us into the future and enable us to accelerate our performance now that our turnaround is behind us."

Clarke also said that the OEM is “a different company— a better performing company— than we were two years ago. We've streamlined the organization, focused our efforts on functional excellence and implemented lean operating principles throughout the company.

“This new structure will build on those efforts and allow us to grow profitable market share as we more effectively plan, design, build and sell our vehicles, parts and services and deliver industry-leading uptime for our customers," he continued.

Clarke added that Jack Allen has been “an important leader at this company for more than three decades, and he played a critical role during our turnaround these past two years. Now, we are counting on these three talented and energetic leaders to work with me and the rest of the organization to drive Navistar forward on its path to profitable growth."

Navistar provided curricula vitae for the three executives who now have added responsibilities:

  • Bill Kozek joined Navistar in May 2013 after more than 26 years with Paccar, where he had most recently served as vp & gm of the Peterbilt division, responsible for all aspects of Peterbilt's U.S. and Canadian operations. Before holding the position of vp & gm of Paccar's Kenworth division, Kozek served in roles of increasing responsibility in Kenworth's sales, parts and finance operations.
  • Persio Lisboa joined the company in 1988 in the marketing area of Maxion International Motores Brasil. Prior to roles in procurement, Lisboa served as vp & gm in the company's engine group as well as holding several other leadership positions in South America, such as president of the Argentina subsidiary and vp of sales & marketing for Navistar's engine group in Brazil.
  • Walter Borst joined Navistar in August 2013 from General Motors, where he most recently had served as chairman, CEO & president of GM Asset Management, responsible for managing approximately $85 billion in assets. Previously, Borst was vp & treasurer at GM, from 2003 to 2010. He also served as CFO of Adam Opel AG in Ruesselsheim, Germany, from 2000-2002. Prior to that time, he served in various treasury, controller, and financial operating capacities at GM.