GM to close US medium-truck business
June 9, 2009 by David Twomey
General Motors in the United States will shut down its medium-duty truck business by July 31 after a four-year search failed to find a buyer.
The operations, which produce the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick, were among the first assets GM put up for sale in 2005 after it started losing money.
GM and Navistar International Corporation struck a tentative deal in 2007, but the pact expired last summer without the sale being completed.
GM has moved quickly since it filed for bankruptcy last week to disclose plans for brands and operations that aren’t part of its long-term strategy, and made an official announcement about the truck business earlier today. The carmaker plans a quick sale of its profitable assets by the end of August to a new company.
CEO Fritz Henderson told reporters in Detroit that the truck business had not been successful for years and workers would be deployed to other facilities or offered an attrition program.
GM sold about 20,000 of the vehicles last year, down from roughly 30,000 in 2007, as the US economy sank into a deeper recession.
About 400 hourly and salaried workers are involved in the production of the medium-duty trucks at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan, spokesman Jim Hopson said.
The Flint plant has more than 2100 employees overall and also builds light pickups, which will remain in production at the plant.
Reuters newsagency says that GM had negotiated with multiple potential buyers.
GM has lost a total of US$88 billion since posting its last annual profit in 2004.
The shutdown of the truck business leaves GM actively searching for a buyer of its Saab brand. Last week, GM reached deals to sell its Hummer and Saturn lines, and has held out a slim hope of finding a buyer for Pontiac, scheduled to shut down by the end of next year.
Print it: 
No wonder they went broke.An f650 looks way better than that,the cab looks out of proportion.
What on earth do the yanks need/use these gigantic behmoths for???
Are they actually road legal over there???
These things look like mini prime-movers. A quick look on the internet shows they have 7+ litre diesels and weigh about 5 tonnes!?!?!?!?
Are there really that many horse floats like the one in the picture that need a “car” such as this?
There must be a lot of good ole boys with big wallets around….
Davie,
You can get an F-Truck with a stump puller of a 7.3L too.
Yes, I feel there is a place for these sort of vehicles, they just aint for the masses anymore, and selling outside of the mass sales group is something that GM can no longer afford to do
No, you can’t buy them privately – they’re commercial vehicles and you need a truck license to drive them. They’re basically the American equivalent of large Isuzu/Hino trucks that you see here in Australia. However, 2 months ago, I spent a month in the US and did not see ONE of these Chevy/GMC trucks. Even the Ford F450-850 aren’t seen often – the Japanese trucks are proving more popular these days.
David,
the Jap trucks are winning the race on price.
Sure they have less features, but also less price
Jeeze no wonder GM can’t find a buyer they are sooo ugly and look totally impracticle as well. Good riddance
It’s not about purchase cost – the Jap Isuzus are more fuel efficient and the cab is shorter (no bonnet). Even the Americans are seeing these advantages.
HOLY ABOMINATION BATMAN!
Calm down Robin or you’ll ladder your tights.
Dog spew ugly…
These things are not very practical and are often purchased by ego headed small men (of sorts) that feel trapped in a large world. The ‘Big Three’ make crap trucks that are not long term durable, as fuel efficient or as agile as Isuzu, Hino or UD trucks. The high percentage of cheap mexican made componentry in the US trucks indicates that these are made to a price, not a standard.