While the GMC Savana is sold by General Motors dealerships, this fleet truck is actually produced by both GM itself and its manufacturing partner Navistar at two separate assembly plants. Just like the closely related Chevy Express, GM produces the Savana and Savana Cutaway itself at its Wentzville plant in Missouri, while Navistar builds the Cutaway model only at a separate facility in Springfield, Ohio.
We figured some GMC Savana Cutaway owners/operators may be curious if their vehicle was produced by GM in Missouri or by Navistar in Ohio, so we decided to provide a quick explainer on how to determine where the GMC Savana is built.
The first step is to have a look at the Vehicle Identification Number, which is mounted on the top portion of the driver side of the instrument panel and visible through the windshield. If the second position in the VIN has a ‘G’, then the vehicle was produced by GM in Missouri. If there’s an ‘H’ in this spot, the vehicle was produced by Navistar in Ohio. The third position in the VIN, meanwhile, indicates the vehicle was shipped as an incomplete Savana Cutaway ready for upfitting by a third-party company, rather than a completed Savana Cargo or Savana Passenger van.
Since we’re already talking about the VIN on the GMC Savana Cutaway, we might as well explain how to use it to determine which engine the vehicle is fitted with, too. Looking at the eighth position in the VIN should reveal either the letter ‘P’ or the numbers ‘7’ or ‘1’. The letter ‘P’ indicates the vehicle has the 4.3L V6 LV1 gasoline engine, while the number ‘7’ indicates it has the larger 6.6L V8 L8T gasoline engine. If it has the number ‘1’, the vehicle is equipped with the 2.8L I4 LWN turbodiesel Duramax engine.
This VIN decoding technique only applies to the GMC Savana Cutaway. The regular GMC Savana van is not produced by Navistar, with all of these vehicles built by GM in Wentzville.
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Comments
So the first two of the Navistar cutaway is 1H, kinda funny considering Navistar’s “International Harvester” IH history
You have to acquire one first ! Ordered 2 in 2020 and they still haven’t been built yet !
I am asking this not to be nasty or snide; I really DO want to know:
You have trucks on order for two years. How are you managing without them? I am sure you accounted for some delivery time, like, say, 12 weeks, in order to slot these into your fleet. Or, if you build them out for sale as box trucks or motor homes, to slot into your inventory.
Second: in these times of shortages, can another make of truck do the job for you? If you have a big fleet of GMs I can see not wanting a “sub-fleet” of something else.
Thanks very much.
Since VW purchased Navistar in 2020 does that mean VW is building GM vans using GM parts or does VW now manufacture GM components as well?
VW needs a North American manufacture to avoid the chicken tax and now that they are looking at a new factory for the revived Scout brand they might later start considering the idea of building Transporter Vans here and revive the Camper Vans like the “California” if they start building their new North American ID Buzz at the new facility along side the new EV Scout.
No diesel in the cutaways.