Navistar International Corp.Volkswagen is in the “early stages” of considering whether to purchase a stake in Navistar, the maker of International brand trucks, Reuters reported Monday.
Reuters cited the Financial Times Deutschland, which said the move would enable Volkswagen to enter the U.S. truck market and help it compete with Daimler Trucks, which owns the Freightliner and Western Star brands.
The paper did not say where it received the information, Reuters said.
Volkswagen currently controls truck makers Scania of Sweden and MAN SE of Germany.
On Friday, Bloomberg reported that investor Carl Icahn had boosted his ownership in Navistar to 11.9%, from 10.6%. Icahn purchased an additional 883,200 shares at an average price of $24.44 each, Bloomberg said.