In The News

GM Ceases Medium-Duty Truck Production

General Motors Corp. has announced that production of its medium-duty truck lines will cease by July 31 after several years of failing to find a buyer for its commercial trucks. The shutdown affects the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick Class 5 through 7 model lines.

"After four years of working with multiple potential buyers, General Motors has decided to wind down its medium-duty truck operations," the automaker said in a statement released June 8.

GM last year reached a tentative deal to sell the division to Navistar Inc., but the agreement expired in August without a final sale being reached. Isuzu Commercial Truck of America, a long-time GM partner, also has been mentioned as a possible suitor.

“We were never able to get a suitable arrangement completed,” Jim Hopson, communication manager for Buick, Pontiac and GMC, told Light & Medium Truck. “We needed to go ahead and made a decision to wind down the operations.”

The announcement comes just over a week after GM Fleet and Commercial Operations General Manager Jim Campbell issued a statement stating that the company remained “fully committed” to the fleet and commercial business. Campbell said in the June 1 release that GM intends to, “continue with vehicle production as outlined in previously communicated schedules.”

Hopson said that other elements of the company’s Fleet & Commercial Operations, such as fleet vehicles and full-size cargo vans, will continue.

About 400 of a total 2,100 workers at GM’s Flint, MI plant are involved in medium-duty production, Reuters said.

The plant will continue to produce the full-size and heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra pickup trucks, Hopson said.  

GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson told reporters at an event in Warren, MI that the medium-duty truck division had not been successful for years. He said workers would be deployed to other facilities or offered buyouts, Reuters reported.

GM medium-duty sales totaled about 20,000 last year, down from roughly 30,000 in 2007, Reuters said.

Last week, GM announced preliminary agreements to sell its Hummer brand to Chinese heavy equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery and its Saturn brand to dealership group Penske Automotive Group.