GM returns to medium-duty truck market, partners with Isuzu - Automotive News

They include six so-called low-cab forward models: Chevrolet 3500, 3500HD, 4500, 4500HD, 5500 and 5500 HD. Ed Peper, GM's vice president of fleet and commercial sales, said dealers who do significant fleet business have been asking for years for... Peper said medium-duty customers typically need other trucks for their fleets, from midsize and light-duty pickups to vans and crossovers. "We've heard from Chevy dealers saying, 'What are you going to do on medium-duty product. GM shut down its medium-duty truck line in 2009 while in bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer for the operation. GM had produced the trucks, the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick, at a plant in Flint, Mich. Chevy will sell regular-cab and crew-cab versions of the new trucks, which will offer a GM-sourced 6. 0-liter, V-8 gasoline engine or Isuzu's 3. 0-liter and 5. 2-liter turbodiesel engines, depending on the model. While Ford Motor Co. sells other styles of medium-duty trucks, Peper said no domestic competitor sells low-cab forward trucks, which position the driver as far forward as possible, in front of the engine. Peper said the U. S. market for low-cab forward trucks is about 30,000 units annually. Peper believes entry into the medium-duty market will accelerate already sharp growth in GM's commercial sales, which jumped 31 percent last year and have risen 25 percent this year through May. Source: www.autonews.com