General Motors is expected to announce Monday a partnership with Isuzu that will put the Detroit automaker back in the medium-duty truck market.
DETROIT, MI - General Motors is expected to announce Monday a partnership with Isuzu that will put the Detroit automaker back in the medium-duty truck market, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Isuzu will build the trucks, and GM will leverage its large dealership network to sell them under the Chevrolet brand, according to the WSJ. GM will reportedly put its own engines in Isuzu's N-Series trucks for the partnership.
The partnership comes at a time that the American economy has continued to rebound form a deep recession, and work-related truck sales have bounced back accordingly.
The medium-duty truck segment is now the largest in the U.S., according to trucking industry site truckinginfo.com. Medium-duty trucks are between light-duty pickups such as a Chevrolet Silverado or a Ford F-150 and heavy-duty, Class 8 haulers.
WSJ says the medium-duty truck market has grown 3.5 percent in the U.S. so far this year.
"It isn't sexy but the commercial truck and van business has been hot," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at AutoTrader. "And General Motors is linking with Isuzu, a tried-and-true partner from the past."
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter