GM to quit making medium-duty trucks

DETROIT — After a fruitless four-year search for a buyer of its medium duty truck business, GM says it will shut the division down by July 31, 2009.

In a statement released today, GM announced it will "wind down" production of the Chevy Kodiak and GMC Topkick medium duty trucks, which are built in Flint, Mich.

After "working with multiple potential buyers," the beleaguered automaker couldn’t finalize a deal to hand over the business, which controls 10-12 percent of the mid-range market.

Last year, GM was on the verge of selling the division to medium-duty marketshare leader Navistar International, but at the 11th hour, the truck company — citing a severe drop in mid-range demand — got cold feet and backed away from the non-binding agreement.

Later, there was speculation that GM and Isuzu were close to a deal.

Isuzu, which markets re-badged GM trucks in North America, had said that it was staging "an aggressive offensive" to increase its MD marketshare in North America and reports suggested that the two companies had entered negotiations.