Navistar is still interested in the possibility of acquiring General Motors’ medium-duty truck unit, Navistar chairman, CEO & president Dan Ustian said this week, according to a Reuters report.

Speaking at the Reuters Manufacturing Summit in Chicago, Ustian said that Navistar has no interest in GM’s medium-duty truck plant in Flint, MI. However, Isuzu began negotiations with GM to buy the Flint plant earlier this month, according to the Associated Press.

General Motors announced last February it would sell its medium-duty business to Navistar, but the deal fell through over the summer when the two companies could not come to an agreement.
Ustian noted if the current downturn continues, Navistar may have to either close or curtail production at its two heavy-duty truck plants in Chatham, ON, and Escobedo, Mexico, Reuters said.

In addition, Ustian told the Reuters summit that Navistar’s joint venture with Caterpillar, Inc. to cooperate on engine platforms and pursue global on-highway truck business opportunities is still on track, although legal papers have not been finalized. He noted that the two companies are working on severe-service trucks built by Navistar but branded by Caterpillar, Reuters said.

GM planned to move production of a super-heavy-duty pickup to Flint, but demand for full-size pickup trucks has fallen, Reuters said, and the company began removing shifts at the Flint facility in April as it begun to focus more on producing fuel-efficient cars.