Rumor: GM sale of MD truck line to Navistar off

[C/K Man]

Originally Posted by doh

My Bad, it was my understanding that 4500/5500 series was on the block aswell. It could work though on lower power, they did put the Vortec 8.1L in them and Ford used the 6.0L in F 650/750s.

My basic point though is Navistar has thier own line of engines, Maxx Force DT,9 and 10.

The 4500 and 5500 were to be sold to Navistar as well, and would continue to use the Duramax 6.6L. Rumor is the 8.1L may be dropped very soon from the Topkick and Kodiak, but I have heard nothing official. You are correct about Navistar making their own engines, and they will soon offer some larger (14L?) 'Maxforce' diesels developed in conjunction with MAN of Germany.

[C/K Man]

No news? I was told today was the day.

[RB35SLT]

Originally Posted by C/K Man

No news? I was told today was the day.

Maybe tomorrow?

[C/K Man]

Here's some news:
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/in..._truck_li.html
I have a feeling maybe GM is having second thoughts......

[C/K Man]

From what I understand, the GM/Navistar deal fell apart for 2 reasons. First, the UAW had agreed to the sale of the medium/heavy truck operation only if another vehicle would be built in the Flint plant to take the big truck's place. The new vehicle was supposed to be a new 4500 series pickup and chassis-cab that would use a GMT-900 cab. This truck would be very similar to a Ford F-450 Super Duty. With the current situation in the economy, GM has delayed that project, so it would seem the UAW will not agree to moving the Topkick/Kodiak out of Flint at this time. The other reason for the deal falling through was Navistar does not see much growth in commercial truck sales for the foreseeable future, so they are not eager to add manufacturing capacity at this time. But, now there is a new rumor:
http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...BrandChannel=0
I find this interesting, because a few years ago it was rumored that GM would eventually merge it's commercial truck operations with Isuzu's. In fact, GM and Isuzu had combined some of their commercial truck marketing efforts. For those that don't know, GM assembles most of the Isuzu commercial trucks sold in the U.S.. Another intersting story from a couple of years ago was that Isuzu was planning on building a truck plant in the U.S.. Some thought that Isuzu was going to manufacture their own trucks here. In any event, you have to admit GM teaming up with Isuzu makes more sense than Navistar.

[SDRacing]

With all the electric companys busting ass down here in Houston and the surrounding areas to get power back on, it was pretty refreshing to see several Kodiaks/topkicks running around town! Of course, there were several F-450-550s as well. God I hope they bring on the 4500, with a LARGER cab!!

[C/K Man]

Here is more news:
http://www.lmtruck.com/articles/lmtb...px?storyid=285