Just yesterday, General Motors and Isuzu announced a partnership in which Isuzu will provide GM with Low Cab Forward Medium-Duty trucks and that GM will sell as Chevrolets. Our question: is the partnership what you were expecting from GM’s long-rumored return to the medium duty segment?
Vote in the poll and sound off in the comments below.
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Comments
Same with the Nissan City Express vans. I’m pretty bummed we’re not seeing the return of the Topkick/Kodiak twins.
Perhaps it’s not that we’re not seeing them, but rather that we’re not seeing them yet.
I assume this will hold them over until they build a truck of their own again down the road.
Unlikely to do this segment solo. GM (Chevy/GMC ) don’t sell enough units to justify the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment needed to design and build a clean slate medium duty truck.
That is why they have been partnering with Isuzu, a proven maker, for 40 years.
How strong is Isuzu in it’s home market and what is the reputation of it’s truck products ? It builds products for it’s own market , which is not the same as North America . Current reputation and brand awareness is zilch…this will take years to develop . GM , again , dragging up the rear , throwing something at the wall to see if it sticks , somethings never change !!
Agree reputation for Isuzu domestically is pretty weak in the passenger car market especially but their truck reputation is pretty solid.
Reputation in many parts of the world is way stronger.
In the Japanese market they outsold Hino (Toyota ) and Fuso (Mitsubishi ) last year.
Still not american
You need an education. Isuzu in the rest of the world is the one of the top selling trucks. Case in point. I was working at a GMC Medium duty truck dealership and a man walked in looking for a used truck. He could only speak a few English words and I don’t understand Spanish. Here in Michigan there isn’t much need to. One word he did say very well….. Isuzu. I showed him our used trucks and when we got close to a truck he would shake his head no! Isuzu!, not a Ford, not a Mitso, or any other truck. Isuzu! They buy used high mileage Isuzu’s up here and ship them to central America. That’s what they want and they will drive them even if they have 300,000 miles on them. Outside of the USA the number 1 selling diesel is Isuzu.
Q. How strong is Isuzu in its home market? … should read as – how strong is Isuzu in the global market?
A. Since 2005, Isuzu has been the world’s leading truck manufacturer measured in volume of units produced annually, covering the light, medium and heavy sectors. Isuzu builds quality reliable great value vehicles.
Isuzu is No.1 across Asia Pacific, Africa and much of South America. GM has a long history of partnering with Isuzu, stretching back to the 1970’s … remember the Chevy L.U.V., a re-badged Isuzu KB pick-up? Chevy’s national dealer network will help to broaden the appeal to NA buyers.
Back in the day, from the early 1950’s through to the late 1970’s, GM’s British Bedford arm was the world’s largest truck manufacturer and exporter, building tough no-nonsense trucks for all sectors, many of which are still in service across the planet. Little known fact, but the Bedford Owners Club has the largest membership of any vehicle club (car or truck) in the world, regardless of brand. Sadly lack of foresight with too little investment far too late from GM, saw the once mighty Bedford fade away, with production ceasing in the mid 1980’s.
During the 1970’s, in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where Bedford was No. 1 at the time, the decision was taken to rebadge Isuzu product as Bedford, to strengthen the range and ensure Bedford’s leading status in these countries. No surprise then that to this day, Isuzu (badged as such) remains the leader in these markets.
Perhaps Isuzu can do for Chevrolet trucks, what it did for Bedford across the globe. There’s no shame in badge engineering. Why reinvent the wheel when great product is readily available? The only potential downside is America’s general aversion to forward or semi-forward control platforms, still preferring the bonneted option. But even that opinion is changing – witness Ford Transit, Ram Promaster, Mercedes Sprinter, etc.
I drive truck for a living, here’s a crazy idea, bring back the general heavy truck line, and put the new cat power under the hood, put those crummy freightliner Cascadias out of business, if you really want to make a statement and a few bucks, take the risk
There is no new cat engine. 2009 was their last year for a emissions compliant engine. They lost their bigest customer when Pacar started building Their own engines. And did not build a engine that would be compliant with 2010 emission standards.
The TopKick sales are held back by the semi-look/design. These Isuzu CabOver designs are much more useful for the Medium Duty market, which is all about payload. They (GM) have given us something we dont have, a gas engine, two deisel options, crew cab and regular cabs from a reputable Medium Duty builder…. This is not a glorious segment but GM has delivered its US Chevy dealers a solid arrow in our quiver.
TopKick MD was one of the best built trucks on the market. THE BEST and strongest frame! bar none!! Better cab, turn signal lights had the bulbs mounted in rubber so lasted longer and kept the DOT from pulling the truck off of the road. Duramax diesel is a better MD engine. Only MD to have a gas engine. Bigger wider cab. Oh look under the hood of a stupid ford. you cant do anything and the cab has to be removed from the frame to do any real work. Smart idea?? The 2003-2009 GM MD was the best MD on the road! If you want a smaller truck go buy a toy truck.
Isuzu have been market leaders in aust for many years, they have a very strong reputation for reliability.
My organisation runs a big fleet of Isuzu’s. Legendary performance and a brand image others would love to have. It looks like badge engineering to me. But having no real footprint/presence in the U.S. It maybe not a bad idea.
GM/Chevrolet is missing out on a large customer base by not having a good medium duty truck. Just think of how many ambulances there are across the US. Each one needs a truck to mount the ambulance body on. Since they dropped the Topkick, Ford has ruled the road with the F450 and Dodge is getting in there more and more as well. Why does GM shoot themselves in the foot all the time like they do?
Most ambulances are on cutaway vans, and GM has that in the Express/Savana 3500 and 4500, with the 6.0 gas or 6.6 diesel engines.
About what I expected but not what I wanted. I was hoping that GM would build their on medium Duty Trucks as well as their own small Vans. Maybe time and money was a factor why they didn’t. Hopefully one day they will build their own medium duty Trucks and Small Vans.
It’s about what you expect in that GM finds it easier just to partner with a company that that have partnered with in the past. As I said on the main board, I hope GM benefits from this move but no matter what they say, it’s just rebadging of an existing product. I would imagine this is being done in part to give the CHEVROLET dealers something to sell and to beat out the ISUZU dealers. The GM of old did this when the PONTIAC dealer was selling the same or very similar car that the BUICK, OLDSMOBILE, and CHEVROLET dealers were selling. So I guess the GMC dealers won’t get a GMC version of this huh?