Page 159 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

While truck customers were adjusting to the loss of the Cat truck engine, Peterson was anxiously awaiting a new product to sell. The hurry-up-and- wait Cat truck was taking its sweet time. Finally on March 22, 2011, it showed up.
CAT’S NEW TRUCK: THE BIG REVEAL (2011)
As debuts go, it was a big one. Caterpillar chose ConExpo-Con/Agg 2011 in Las Vegas for the grand unveiling. The launch was one of the most significant product debuts in Caterpillar history. As the curtain dropped, clouds from dry ice bil- lowed out over a crowd eager to see the promised truck. The Cat CT660 was finally here.
For Cat customers, it had been a long time com- ing. For Peterson, it had been an exercise in pa- tience, handholding, and interim solutions. The new truck was the product of a fifty-fifty joint venture between Navistar and Caterpillar called North American Severe Service (NASS). Back in 2009, the two industry giants had joined forces to build a truck that would fill a weak spot within International’s product line. Cat would design the truck and sell it exclusively through its dealership network. Navistar would build the Cat-branded, Class 8 truck at its International facility in Texas.
Top to bottom: New Cat vocational truck introduction; Jack Drew (Willits salesman) sold first Cat truck into logging to Anderson Logging
The entry-level model came with a Navistar engine (11-liter or 13-liter), a choice of colors including Cat-yellow and, of course, the distinctive Cat look. The reincarnation of Caterpillar’s commitment to the truck industry now sat in Las Vegas wowing customers in all its chrome-grilled glory.
Back in February 2011, Eric Martin had laid out Cat’s vision: “Caterpillar’s first model is a heavy-duty, three-axle, workmen’s truck—strong and rigid and durable. The initial model will be a big dump truck, a transport hauler, a logging
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