GM Says More Trucks Could Go Unibody

General Motors Corp. Brings to market this fall a fourth midsize cross/utility vehicle to meet a shift in consumer demand away from body-on-frame SUVs, and company executives say the auto maker could migrate more trucks to unibody construction.

Don Butler, marketing director for GM trucks, shies away from discussing future product plans but says market demand ultimately will decide.

“You can count on us to do the things that make sense in terms of meeting our customers' needs,” Butler tells Ward's during a media event for the '09 Chevrolet Traverse, the fourth product based on GM's Lambda CUV platform.

In recent weeks, GM has made two adjustments to its car and truck production mix. The auto maker announced on June 3 plans to close four truck assembly plants in North America over the next two years, citing a rapid shift in consumer demand away from pickups and SUVs to more economical passenger cars and CUVs due to high fuel prices.

GM followed with news on June 23 it would step back production this summer at seven North American pickup and SUV plants, including those scheduled for closure, with additional downtime.

In a note to investors, J.P. Morgan analyst Himanshu Patel suggests GM may migrate its fullsize SUVs away from the traditional body-on-frame construction.

“The 1/3 of the program that is not SUVs could become unibody,” Patel says in a research note to investors about American Axle Mfg. & Holdings Inc., a key supplier to the auto maker's fullsize-truck program. “The SUVs…may morph into an extension of the current Lambda CUVs.”

Patel expects GM's pickups to remain frame-based, and Butler suggests the same.

“There are still tons of customers out there who need to haul people, cargo (and) need to tow,” he says. “We're going to want to do that in the most efficient way possible.”

At its peak between 2003 and 2004, the industry's body-on-frame truck business accounted for 800,000 units, Butler notes.

Market Shift Forces GM Plant Closures, Push in Car Production
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