General Motors and Navistar have reached a long-term agreement to develop and assemble medium-duty, conventional cab Class 4 and 5 commercial vehicles, the companies announced Sept. 29, confirming rumors of late that the two were set to strike a deal on medium-duty vehicles.
There will be two versions of the trucks produced in the partnership — one Navistar-International branded line and one GM/Chevy-branded line. There will be some cosmetic differences between the two, but trucks will be the same at their core.
GM will not comment on engine availability yet.
“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.
The vehicles will be jointly developed using Navistar’s rolling chassis configurations and manufacturing capabilities and GM’s commercial components and engines. The vehicles will begin production in 2018, the companies said, and will be manufactured at Navistar’s facility in Springfield, Ohio. Navistar plans to add 300 jobs and invest more than $12 million in facility upgrades and state-of-the-art equipment to produce the new vehicles, the company said.
“Our collaboration with GM is another example of our customer-centric, open integration approach—providing our customers with the best technologies available,” said Bill Kozek, president of Truck and Parts at Navistar. “By working with an industry-leading company like GM, we’ll be able to enhance our medium-duty product portfolio and leverage our scale and expertise in manufacturing medium-duty trucks.”
Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Additional product information will be announced later.