Traton : Part of the Family

The negotiations that preceded the founding of the company continued off and on for 13 years. That alone shows the importance of the venture that arch rivals Cyrus McCormick Jr. and William Deering had in mind. The two met for the first time in 1889 to talk about merging their businesses. On August 12, 1902, the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, the Deering Harvester Company, and three smaller manufacturers sealed the deal, creating the largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the US with a market share of 85%.

For Cyrus McCormick Jr., this merger was the crowning jewel of the enterprise his father began back in 1831 with his invention of the first reaper. The Virginia Reaper marked the beginning of the process of agricultural mechanization and the rise of the company that was founded soon after. Cyrus McCormick Jr. took over as head of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in 1884, after his father's death. He was only 25-years-old at the time, having just returned from Princeton University. The company prospered, but faced tough competition from as many as 200 other smaller reaper makers. Agriculture was a thriving industry in the US during the Gilded Age, the period of rapid economic growth that began after the American Civil War.

As they merged their two companies together in 1902, McCormick and Deering showed entrepreneurial foresight. International Harvester brought together an expansive sales network, a self-sufficient, vertically integrated supply chain, multiple production facilities and, most important, immense technical knowledge. It was this knowledge that set off a dazzling display of innovation straight after the merger. Engineer Ed Johnston, the primary driver of this innovation, made the most of the new development opportunities and secured numerous technological milestones.

• In 1904, International Harvester presented a gasoline engine for the first time.
• It launched its first tractor, the Mogul, in 1906.
• The Auto Buggy, the company's first automobile, was presented in 1907.
  with contributions from Deering's George Ellis.
• The first truck from International Harvester was already on the road in 1909. The Auto Wagon formed the foundation of International Truck, the brand under which Navistar still sells its trucks. The Auto Wagon was designed to carry a farmer, his family and their crops to a market in the next town over. It was a robust, reliable small truck that could carry a load of up to 400 kilograms.