Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Chevrolet, GM, GMC, Isuzu, Rumormill
GM considering selling medium truck operations to Isuzu
Reports are coming in that the General is considering selling its medium truck operations to Isuzu. This news is totally unconfirmed by both parties, though Isuzu says it would be more than willing to listen if GM felt the desire to talk.
All of this comes shortly after Navistar chose not to follow through on its non-binding agreement to purchase the commercial truck unit from General Motors after seeing what's been happening with the U.S. economy and gas prices. After that deal went sour, GM said that it would continue looking for options, so this particular piece of the rumormill pie is anything but surprising. We contacted GM to see if the automaker had anything to say regarding the hubbub, and, as expected, it's staying tight-lipped for the time being. An Isuzu tie-up makes some sense, as the two truck makers have had dealings together in the past, most notably in the design of GM's current mid-sized trucks, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon.
[Source: Forbes]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
imoore 6:17PM (9/19/2008)
This does make a lot of sense-either a complete sale to Isuzu or a 50/50 joint ownership. This way, the Chevy Kodiak, GMC Top Kick and Isuzu H-Series Medium duty trucks will remain in production, GM will continue to offer medium duties for the forseeable future, and Isuzu finally gets the platform to enter the Heavy-duty market as has been rumored two years ago.
My only question in this whole deal is what will happen to the plant site in Birmingham, Alabama that Isuzu bought last year? Birmingham was intended to assemble big trucks before Isuzu postponed those plans?
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tankd0g 6:21PM (9/19/2008)
Isuzu has money?
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Retroqqq 6:55PM (9/19/2008)
never seen a smaller company buying a bigger company before ?
Porsche -> VW
ImportCarSite.com 7:13PM (9/19/2008)
Isuzu has the best selling Low Cab Forward truck, so yes Isuzu has money. Also medium duty for Isuzu and GMC starts at 12,000 GVW on the Isuzu N-Series and GMC W-Series. We are not talking pickups. So really the image on the article should show a commercial truck.
PS I have worked for 2 different commercial truck dealerships over 12 years and the one I work at know does have an Isuzu franchise.
hashiryu 12:23AM (9/20/2008)
Didn't Toyota buy a considerably large percentage of Isuzu?
REALITYCHECK 6:47PM (9/19/2008)
What is a medium truck anyway? I think the only way for both GM and Ford to deal with the new gas regulations is to make all trucks a separate company. The government will then have to come up with realistic MPG for trucks.
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That One Person 2:57PM (9/20/2008)
Ford did use to own Sterling. It is also a subsidiary of Freightliner but is also part of Daimler AG.
I think Ford was sort of dumb to give Sterling away.
The Luigiian 6:55PM (9/19/2008)
"...the two truck makers have had dealings together in the past, most notably in the design of GM's current mid-sized trucks, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon."
...And we all know how that turned out. What with the five-cylinder engine, poor IIHS reliability ratings, etcetera.
Nevermind all that, though, for a second. If there's one thing GM is known for, it's trucks. Doesn't this dilute their light-duty trucks' brand image?
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why not the LS2LS7? 1:30AM (9/20/2008)
The 5-cyl works fine. And the IIHS doesn't give reliability ratings, only crash ratings, right?
I think you don't understand what a medium-duty truck is. It's a class 4,5 or 6 truck. Like a F450, F550 or F650. They are rarely used as pickups, instead commercial vehicles are built on their chassis and some RVs.
Hasn't Isuzu been building GM's low cab forward (LCF) trucks anyway? The ones I see around with Chevy badges on them sure look like Isuzus.
The Luigiian 1:39AM (9/20/2008)
Ah. Sorry LS2, looks like I screwed up and substituted "reliability" for "safety." I was referring to IIHS side-impact tests. In terms of reliability, I am aware GM medium-duty trucks are quite reliable.
Yes, I am aware that these trucks are in line with F350s and F450s. But whenever I look at an F-150 or Silverado 1500, in the back of my head I'm thinking, "Just think, that truck's bigger brother is hauling buses and motorhomes and moving America." It's a positive image for me, and I think a lot of truck guys view their vehicle as a downsized version of one of the real big rigs that build and shape our country. I just think that's awesome, and it's a shame GM might let that heritage go.
As for Isuzu: Yes, I've seen them. I don't see why GM should sell them all its truck ops though.
That One Person 2:57PM (9/20/2008)
LS2...We use F-550s as dump trucks. We have one F-550 pickup which we use from time to time as a tool truck.
Now if anyone has ever seen an F-550, it looks just like and F-250-F-450. The F-650 on the other hand is a tad bigger.
But I do agree on Isuzu on buying GM's medium truck arm. It may benefit them both in the future.
HomelessDrunk 3:42PM (9/20/2008)
You should really do your homework before saying the I5 engines are sub-par. I guess 150k miles with no issues is unreliable (sarcasm)...I guess an 30MPG on the highway is pretty crappy too for a truck regardless of its size (sarcasm)....I guess having more power than its #1 competitor's larger V6 (Tacoma) and better fuel economy makes it a crappy engine too (sarcasm)...
Sure there were issues with the head design...GM took care of that and extended the warranty on that particular issue. Every manufacture has recalls and issues...some are just more publicized than others...
You should really do your homework before making lame assumptions...
The Luigiian 9:10PM (9/20/2008)
@Homeless drunk:
I have never seen a single fuel economy test of the Colorado done by either the government or in professional testing where the Colorado got 30 mpg--either in city or on highway. The highest I have heard is about 24 highway in EPA tests.
I mistakenly mentioned reliability. I meant to say "safety." Attack me because the Colorado got five stars in NHTSA tests and I'm attacking its safety if you're going to attack me. Where did I attack fuel economy, by the way?
As for the five cylinder: The engine itself has gotten nothing but negative reviews, because it's a five-cyl. Chevy should have known better than to make an engine of any size by cutting a cylinder off a bigger one. The only time I've heard of an automaker doing something similar, it was BMC welding two four-bangers together to get an eight cylinder.
The five cylinder was engineering-wise a lazy move on Chevy's part in my opinion. Rather than take the time to enlarge the engine bay for the Trailblazer's inline six, they just cut a cylinder off.
If the five cylinder were so great, there wouldn't have been so many people asking for an eight cylinder engine in the first place.
That said, I am indeed glad the engine worked out OK in the end. I think it was a bad idea in concept but I suppose it worked all right in practice.
simianspeedster 2:55AM (9/22/2008)
HomelessDrunk:
You're pulling stats out of your ass. Yes, the GM I-5 has 6 more HP than the Tacoma's V-6 (242 v. 236), but the Tacoma has an additional 24 lb./ft. of torque (266 v. 242). Saying the I-5 has more power is a stretch at best.
Mileage wise, the an I-5 Colorado and V-6 Tacoma are almost indistinguishable when both are configured similarly. Consider:
4x2 Tacoma V-6 w/Auto = 17/21
4x2 Colorado I-5 w/Auto = 16/22
4x4 Tacoma V-6 w/Auto = 16/20
4x4 Colorado I-5 w/Auto = 15/21
You're free to love the Chevy I-5 all you want, but the facts don't support your claim that it's more pwerful and gets better milleage than Toyota's competing V-6.
-SimianSpeedster
ImportCarSite.com 6:57PM (9/19/2008)
Well GMC and Isuzu seperated some of their dealings of a commercial trucks at the end of last year. See Isuzu commercial trucks and GMC commercial trucks are pretty much identical except for the badges and model names like for example the Isuzu NPR and GMC W4500.
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Mike M 11:04AM (9/20/2008)
Here's something everbody is missing. The Hummer H3 is built in the same plant as the Colorado/Canyon which uses a 5 cylinder Izuzu motor. This is an ideal outlet for GM to get Hummer off the books, but still keep it in the circle of friends.
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Torrent 2:16PM (9/20/2008)
Good point.
bornfromjets03 6:01PM (9/20/2008)
mike you deserve a Klondike bar for mentioning Hummer, a joint GM/Isuzu ownership of GM's medium duty and Hummer would definitely benefit both parties. Isuzu is better for Hummer than mahindra or tata or chery would be.
dzdroik 9:11PM (9/20/2008)
I hope this opportunity for Isuzu will offer their diesel engines in this product line. The Isuzu pickup's have two different diesel engines that cannot be sold in the USA. They all are shipped to other countries. Another EPA issue!! I would trade my gasser 06 GMC Canyon for a diesel Isuzu pickup in a heart beat!!
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whofan 7:58AM (9/21/2008)
I don`t understand why people knock the 5 cylinder engine. GM could have easily dropped the 4.2l v6 in the Colorado. The major purpose of the new midsize GM trucks was fuel economy. I think they nailed it with a good blend of power. If everyone needs high horsepower, a full size truck would be better suited.
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