Fleet owners and tradesmen looking for a new Chevrolet Express 1500 or GMC Savana 1500 half-ton van will have to settle for something else. This is because reports have emerged that General Motors will discontinue the aged vans from the 2015 model year onward.
According to PickupTrucks.com, the the 1500 vans made up 23 percent of Express and 7 percent of Savana sales, with the rest of the purchases made up of the three-quarter ton models and upward. And GM is convinced that their half-ton van customers can either be talked into the HD vans or the new, smaller, Nissan-developed City Express.
“We recognize that the van space has changed radically,” Joe Langhauser, product manager for GM’s full-size vans, told PUTC. “The 1500-series van was the last vehicle [of its type] that has been produced in North America that was under 8,500 pounds, and it had some very unique attributes to it.”
Sales wasn’t the only factor here. It also had to do with the federal mandate of an 8,500 GVWR, with everything at or below that number being considered light duty, while anything above it is considered heavy duty. All light duty vehicles must line up and be rated by the EPA. At best, these vans achieved an EPA-rated 20 mpg highway. CAFE standards, anyone?
Langhauser continued:Â “Would we ever bring back that [1500] badging and that labeling? Potentially, but it will always be over 8,500 pounds in that space… there are a lot of regulatory changes that occur at 8,500 pounds.”
Comments
It would have required a lot of modernization to keep these going.
Vans are brand ambassadors. If they don’t stay current, every airport shuttle ride could kill a Corvette or Equinox sale.
Joe is right. The van space has changed radically in the US market. I think the days of these American style vans are numbered. After all who actually needs a van with a big V8 up front, or desires one for that matter if more efficient options are available? Just money down the drain if you are a tradesman or business owner. With Ford bringing in the Transit and RAM the Fiat products what options does GM have? Rebadge that Renault van which is what Opel/Vauxhall currently do? Develop a new ‘Euro style’ van product? Does GM have the money or expertise to do this and make it worth while?
This is just where GM is behind yet. The man power and money has been going to larger segments of GM’s market and this one has placed in the secondary.
But with that said GM already is working on product to replace this van and it is just not ready yet for 2015. This statement is telling of the entire 1/2 ton truck market in general. “All light duty vehicles must line up and be rated by the EPA. At best, these vans achieved an EPA-rated 20 mpg highway. CAFE standards”.
This is why we have the new smaller truck and the 1/2 tons are going up in price. GM has hopes to move most to the smaller trucks at a lower price and let the larger V8 half tons regulate themselves at a lower volume but at a similar profit. Sure they will add aluminum but that is not going to fix this problem long term as all MFG will need to move people to a smaller truck or to a heavier 3/4 ton. Have you noted the added emphasis of the heavier GM trucks of late. It is not just by chance.
In time even with the Aluminum Ford the Ranger will reach our shores. Even the Product planner for Ford said the only thing keeping it out of the states is Fords will to bring it in as it will meet NA regulations as it sits now.
Right now the Van segment is seeing the radical transformation of the market the pick ups will see in a couple years. The Ford Transit to me is going to shake the market more than the 2015 F150 as it really is a game changer the Fiat not so much. We have the Ram at work and while modern it is no where near what Ford has coming.
From my observations GM has two vans coming to the states but neither are ready for market yet. This is kind of like the Camaro when it was discontinued as the regulations killed the car before GM was read with a new model. In this case they are already working on it but you can only revamp so many product lines at once and GM is at the limit right now. The slower lines have to be delayed. This is why GM is using the Nissan for a short time to fill the gap.
Scott it’s interesting that you say all that as I have wondered what would happen if the US government decided one day to drop the chicken tax. I guess you would see a version of what is going to happen anyway. That is these older styler American vans will disappear and half-ton trucks would move upmarket and drop in volume. I was surprised recently to find out that the Tacoma and Frontier are the only smaller pickups you get in the US. If you haven’t seen a Colorado/Canyon or Ranger already you will notice that they are a noticeable step up in size over the other two. I expect the next generation Hilux/Taco and Navara/Frontier to grow as well. Many US buyers will probably see this and decide it is big enough and won’t justify the extra expense of going for a half ton.
My hope is that if half ton sales fall off that at least one of the manufacturers decide to build some in RHD and send some to our shores to fill out some lost volume. Would love to have a RAM 1500 Ecodiesel sitting in the garage next to the Commodore now but no way I’m shelling out $120k+ for an after market conversion like increasing numbers of people are doing now. 🙂
If I remember correctly, the Colorado and Ranger were discontinued in the US due to low sales.
Or, they were discontinued for a reason.
I really don’t think they’re going to come back successfully.
Probably. I’m not from the US so I wouldn’t know. Maybe GM and Ford neglected those products to encourage people to buy higher profit margin half-tons and fuel was cheap at the time so people went with it.
They discontinued they small trucks when fuel was at an all time high. I’m guessing most tradesmen just bite the bullet and suffer worse fuel economy to get more utility.
What really hurt the small trucks here are several things.
One the small trucks like the Ranger were neglected and not updated for years.
The Colorado and Canyon were odd in styling not all that great in build and not discounted heavily like the full size trucks. It got to the point a well optioned Colorado could cost as much or more than a well optioned LT2 Silverado two wheel drive with the incentives. If given the choice on price like this what would you take?
Also people really would like to have a S 10 sized truck.
Now with that said the new Colorado is larger than the last. It in the 6.5 bed and crew cab is a down right bigger truck than you think. If you have not seen one you will understand once you do. It is long. Now this truck is not as wide and may really help MPG since it has a much smaller frontal area.
There is talk of a smaller truck yet but we have nothing to really go on yet.
I can not predict how it will do yet and I think GM is pretty much the same boat as they think it will do ok but until it hits the market no one knows. The key will be keeping the price cheaper than the full size and building a truck of the same quality, ability and comfort into the smaller truck. Then it might work. But given the large and small trucks at the same price the larger one will always win.
I have seen the Colorado and Canyon and yes the are a little larger than most realize. But the reality is the smaller size will return higher MPG.
I do not see the Half Ton so much going up scale as I see the companies try to move people either to the smaller trucks or to the less regulated 3/4.
If the Chicken tax dropped I am not sure what would happen as most Americans would not accept trucks from over seas as even the ones built here are not well accepted here as it is. Sure they get sales but not in the way the American ones do. I am not sure of the factor why as it could be several things or a mix of all of them. Loyalty to the brands and the American truck with these buyers is very strong. Many in this segment are the few who are still strong buy American thinkers even with some built in Canada and Mexico.
I expect that they all will offer the Half Ton Diesel but that is not going to solve the issues here. Americans just have no great love for Diesels unless they are of the heavier weight class. Also the cost of the engines is very high here with the new emission regulations that will only get worse. It is a shame our government wants more MPG but they burden the most efficient engines with more regulations.
Like I have stated many times here, the American truck market will fundamentally change in the next 10 years here, Many are just oblivious to the changes that will be coming. But as it is now the automakers will need to be very creative and work to force change with their most loyal buyers.
The SUV market has already seen the change as the CUV is taking over. There is still a market for the large SUV but it is getting smaller and smaller as the prices get higher and higher. One of the GM people speculated the large SUV market may just be gone at some point. I really do not want to see that but to be honest it is already heading that way.
Long term higher gas prices would be a final blow. With what is going on in the middle east and that oil is a traded commodity higher prices will come at some point and not leave. This would finish off the large SUV for the most part and damage the larger truck markets.
This is why GM needs to continue with the smaller CUV and efficient auto market as at some point this will be what keeps all companies viable. If they continue to live only on large trucks they will fail fast.
I didn’t know until now that Nissan also have an ‘American style’ van in your market. What is the sales volume like on this and are Nissan likely to follow suit with phasing out soon?
I understand what you mean by emissions regulations on Diesels in the US. Diesels are almost the default choice in trucks and vans everywhere else in the world. Maybe the Feds and CARB should take it easy with applying the next round of emissions regulations on Diesels if they are serious about reducing fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions. Give time for the technology to catch up and for Americans to warm to modern Diesels.
Michael the Nissan here has been a dud. I see them on lots at the dealer but only a few on the road.
Diesels here are not real popular with the public accept for the heavy truck market. The GM Olds failure has tainted the public here that really do not understand them.
Second the American government has much stricter standards than most other countries and are doing nothing but making it more difficult and expensive for the automaker to offer.
It is sad.