General Motors Co. and Navistar International Corporation will work together to develop and assemble medium-duty trucks, in a long-term agreement they jointly stated would “Navistar to strengthen its product lineup and GM to expand its Chevrolet commercial truck portfolio.”
The new partners did not detail the length of the agreement, not its financial terms. It’s also not known
The future models will demonstrate Navistar’s capabilities in rolling chassis configurations and manufacturing, and GM’s commercial components and engines.
“By working with an industry-leading partner like GM, we’ll be able to enhance our medium-duty product portfolio and leverage our scale and expertise in manufacturing medium-duty trucks,” according to Bill Kozek, president, Truck and Parts, Navistar.
The new vehicles will start production in 2018 at Navistar’s plant in Springfield, OH. Earlier this week, Ohio granted a six-year, 60% tax credit to Navistar to offset the cost of installing a second production line at the Springfield Assembly Plant. In their announcement, Navistar and GM stated the expansion project represents a $12-million investment in plant improvements and new equipment.
The GM/Navistar venture will employ about 300, in addition to the 1,500 already at work at the Springfield Assembly Plant.
The new trucks will be conventional cab Class 4/5 commercial vehicles with a “conventional cab” (the engine is situated in front of the driver, rather than below) arrangement. Navistar already assembles DuraStar® and TerraStar® medium-duty trucks there, but the partners’ announcement made it clear the venture would be introducing new models.
“Bringing medium-duty, conventional cab trucks back into the portfolio strengthens Chevrolet’s commitment to providing commercial customers with more choices and one-stop shopping for a versatile lineup of trucks, vans and crossovers,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president of GM Fleet and Commercial sales.
