Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/599511
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2015 29 Between its popular PowerStroke diesel engine, which was the heart of Ford's SuperDuty line for many years, and its own successful line of medi- um-duty trucks, Navistar held a virtual chokehold on the North American me- dium-duty market in the same way that Mack is basically the Alabama Crimson Tide of the dump truck world today. Ford eventually decided to bring its diesel engine design and production in-house, and fallout from Navistar's emissions technology battles with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has emboldened competitors that would love to grab more medium-duty market share. A fresh lineup of conventional trucks would be a defi nite positive step for Navistar, and the underlying mes- sage – that GM trusts Navistar's design, engineering and quality – isn't a bad one to be heard in the marketplace, either. It's always fun to see new truck models being launched, and given the current state of technology today, we could see some in- novative features and systems appear with them. Any way you look at it, this should prove to be a positive move for both Navistar and GM. B ack around 2008 when our entire economy was teetering on the edge of disaster, a bloated business structure and an array of inefficiencies nearly killed GM. Drastic measures were needed to survive. Things were equally grim on the truck side of the equation. Chevrolet and GMC wound down their long and profi table partnership with Isuzu, and in a move that showed just how serious things really were, GM slit the throat of its entire medium-duty vocational truck business, essentially surrendering the fi eld to Ford and Dodge. Today, trucks are big business, and not having a robust vocational product in the market is a handicap that no car dealer likes to take to the fi eld. GM now is getting back into the vocational truck market in North America. But the development costs associated with new vehicles are so staggeringly high that bringing everything in-house is simply not an option for many auto manufacturers. Chevy already is offering the Nissan-built City Express compact van, and in June, it announced that it would renew its longtime relationship with Isuzu in a deal that would revive joint engine development projects between the two companies and return GMC- and Chevy-badged cabover work trucks to dealer lots across the country in the near future. On the heels of these efforts, we got word last month that GM has inked a new deal with Navistar to develop and market a new series of conventional Class 5 and 6 vocational trucks. The new trucks will feature a body designed and built by Navistar and GM-designed powertrains and should be a welcome shot in the arm for both companies, with both selling differently badged versions of the new truck. PRODUCT REVIEWS, OEM & SUPPLIER NEWS, AND EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT TRENDS BY JACK ROBERTS JACK ROBERTS is Executive Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jroberts@ccjmagazine.com or call (205) 248-1358. DRASTIC TIMES: A bloated business structure and an array of ine ciencies nearly killed GM. BOUNCING BACK: The company is getting back into the vocational truck market in North America. BENEFICIAL TEAMUP: GM has inked a new deal with Navistar, which could use a positive step. Medium-duty moves GM-Navistar partnership may lead to big things Navistar once held a virtual chokehold on the North American medium-duty market, but a fresh lineup of conventional trucks would be a de nite posi- tive step.