International to Lay Off 300 Staff Due to Weak Truck Demand

No hourly production plant staff will depart, a spokesperson said. (International Motors)

International Motors will lay off 300 employees as truck orders and purchases remained underwhelming as the first quarter of 2026 began, the Traton Group unit confirmed to Transport Topics.

Lisle, Ill.-based International will trim 300 corporate, salaried positions. No hourly production plant staff will depart, a spokesperson said.

The truck and bus maker operates truck assembly plants in Springfield, Ohio, and San Antonio, plus the Huntsville, Ala., powertrain facility in the U.S.

“International has made necessary changes to our business in response to a sustained decline in commercial vehicle demand, as customers remain cautious amid market uncertainties. We’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our salaried workforce by approximately 300 total roles across all locations,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company has also implemented a hiring freeze and installed travel restrictions for staff, among other changes.

The company also has revised its electric vehicle product roadmap; when Traton released its third-quarter 2025 earnings Oct. 29, the company said International had canceled plans for its eRH Series battery-electric tractor.

Traton said International’s Q3 earnings included $149.3 million in expenses related to the termination of the eRH.

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The International eRH on the floor at ACT Expo 2025. (International Motors via X)

International unveiled plans for the Class 8 battery-electric regional-haul tractor in April. At that point, the eMV medium-duty truck was International’s only battery-electric truck. Production of the eRH was set to begin in the first half of 2026.

Demand for trucks did not improve as 2025 progressed and what carrier executives have characterized as the longest North American freight market downturn in a half-century continued.

International’s sales volume dived 34% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 15,800 trucks and buses from 23,800 in the year-ago period, Traton said Jan. 20 in a market update.

Overall in 2025, International Motors’ truck and bus sales slumped 30% to 63,700 vehicles from 90,600 a year earlier.

“The U.S. market remained weak in 2025 amid tariff-related uncertainties and an ongoing freight recession, leading to continued caution among truck customers,” Traton said in comments accompanying the figures. “By contrast, bus unit sales rose strongly.”

The company did not break out the truck and bus sales figures. Traton will release its full Q4 earnings on March 4.

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Factory workers paint tractors at the International assembly plant in Escobedo, Mexico. (International Motors)

As a result, the company is in a quiet period on production levels and the International spokesperson could not comment on whether output at any North American plants had been paused during Q4 or would be interrupted during the current quarter.

In April, International cut 900 jobs at its heavy-duty truck manufacturing plant in Escobedo, Mexico, cutting the second shift at the assembly facility. International CEO Mathias Carlbaum said at the time he did not anticipate job cuts at U.S. manufacturing facilities despite the slump in demand.

Volvo Group disclosed Jan. 28 that production at Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks assembly plants is set to pause for an unspecified number of isolated weeks in Q1, citing weak demand.

VTNA and Mack also halted production on individual days in the final quarter of 2025, CEO Martin Lundstedt told analysts during the parent company’s Q4 earnings call, avoiding the need for any job cuts.

Both truck makers downsized their production plant head counts in 2025 due to the ongoing market weakness.