RoadwayR

For a long time Navistar looked like the likely candidate, but didn't Renscher comment some time ago that VW was not necessarily looking for a large volume truck manufacturer? One would think if Navistar was the intended target or partner VW would have moved on it by now. You can't ignore that Navistar seems to be building a substantial relationship with GM (not a surprise considering all the ex-GM executives running NAV now) and I think we have not seen the full extent of that partnership. PACCAR would seem to be more of the type of partner VW is looking for, but could DAF be integrated into MAN and Scania eventually? What about Oshkosh?

Looks like they smoothed out the cab some, maybe the windshield has a bit more rake to it. I wonder if the short conventional TranStar will be similarly updated. I hear after the LT comes the CV TerraStar replacement.

That's funny because I remember a couple of trucking firms in the Los Angeles area back in the early 70's that ran Isuzu conventionals. I think it was Smiser and DeSalvo.

Wan't the CH cab recently revised? Thought they made it a bit longer. Wish they would go back to the original doors, I never liked Ford Super Duty the look of the dipped beltline.

Why did Nissan spend money on their NV1500/2500/3500 instead of bringing the Master to the U.S.?

In some applications the 'walk through' feature of a cut-away is an advantage. They probably make a little money on them, they stay in production for a very long time so I don't imagine tooling costs are much.

This just in: http://www.trucktrend.com/news/1606-navistar-to-build-gm-cutaway-vans-in-2017/

What do you hear of a replacement for the DuraStar?

Not out of the woods yet, but solid progress. Lots of new product coming, that will not hurt.

I think that Allison TC-10 is very interesting.

In a similar story, BYD (a Chinese company) was awarded a bid to supply the L.A.M.T.A. with electric buses, but U.S. firm Proterra was not. Lots of controversy surrounding that one.

When Isuzu introduced that cab on the N series they said it was a modular design that would eventually be used on most all of their vehicles.

I agree, and Isuzu's biggest problem of late in the U.S. is their dealer network. Selling the trucks from Chevy Commercial dealers should increase their volume substantially, and the reintroduction of the class 6 F series can only help. It was a mystery to me why Isuzu begged off the deal to take over GM's medium duty business back in 2009, but I guess the economic uncertainty at the time was too much for them. Isuzu also had plans to open their own plant. Interesting situation now. GM is back to selling Isuzu N series trucks, which are now assembled by Spartan Motors. GM is also working with Navistar in a deal that will likely be just as important to NAV as the LCF deal is to Isuzu. I am hearing that GM will be responsible for a lot of the design work going into the Chevy/International JV trucks, and rumors are that there will be more JV trucks beyond the Chevy class 4/5 medium conventional/International TerraStar replacement. International has also mentioned cabovers. Could GM be brokering something between Isuzu and Navistar? Interesting thought.

Class 5 and 6 will transition to 5L 4 cylinder diesels with the coming EPA regulations. Isuzu will be ahead of the curve with their new F series class 6 truck, and Freightliner will soon be offering a 5L Detroit Diesel in he M2.

There is also these guys: http://www.rainiertruckandchassis.com/ My understanding is they are manufacturing their own chassis and buying just a cab. Rainier is promising Cummins and PSI CNG/LNG/gasoline engines. They have been around a few years, but I have no idea how many trucks they have build so far, if any.

Hoping to hear from the man soon.........

Miss not reading up on the latest heavy duty/commercial inside news. Must be something interesting going on behind the scenes at Navistar at least!

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense, as it would have been a bit before my time. Not sure where the dealer was in later years either, the outfit I worked for didn't run Macks.

About the Los Angeles Branch, I used to go on parts runs down Alameda a lot, there were a lot of truck dealers there. GMC's L.A. Factory Branch, Alameda Ford Truck (formally City Ford), Sunset International, J.T. Jenkins Kenworth. There was once a big White dealer around there too. I don't remember the Mack dealer, but a large 30's era building is still at that address. Any ideas when the Mack dealer closed?

I wonder how things would have turned out if Chrysler would have been allowed to buy Mack in '64.

First sentence under "Good Fit". That sticks out to me, the part about North America being a good fit for VW- "AS WELL AS A POSSIBLE PARTNER". Seems to infer the 'possible partner' is not in North America at present. Iveco, anyone?

A very good analysis. It is also against a backdrop of the advantages of separating VW's passenger car/light truck operations from commercial vehicles.

Say what you will, but the air has gotten considerably cleaner in Southern California within the last 10 years. The Westport engines, in my opinion, are somewhat crude conversions of existing diesels. Their big advantage is that they interchange with Cummins diesels, but a CNG/LNG engine does not need to be nearly that large and heavy. Spark-ignition engines are under a lot less stress that compression-ignition. What is needed is a designed-from-the-start CNG/LNG engine family for large trucks. The PSI 8.8L comes close to ideal for medium duty trucks. It is basically a much-updated GM 8.1L, As for Ford, they do not really offer and CNG/LNG vehicles, they merely sell you a 'prep package', and it's up to you to find an 'approved' upfitter. My experiences with that have not been so great. GM is offering some 'factory' dual fuel vehicles, at least you can get parts and service through authorized dealers (not a problem). CNG has made great inroads here in transit bus and refuse fleets. It is not only cleaner, and the economics are there in many cases.

Good, an asset to sell to help cover their upcoming legal expenses.............

Page & Page, as I recall some of those were adjustable, 2/3 on the driver, 1/3 on the tag. Popular in the 60's.