To reassure its customers, the long-ailing International Harvester launched an ad campaign early this year that featured this slogan: "The commitment is forever." But last week Harvester's shaky financial condition forced it to break that promise. The Chicago-based company decided to sell its agricultural division for $430 million to Houston's Tenneco, an energy conglomerate. This means that Harvester, the descendant of a company founded by Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the mechanical reaper, will abandon its original line of business. The divestiture will let Harvester concentrate on its profitable truck-building operation. Tenneco will merge Harvester's tractor line with its...
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