GM ends plan with Navistar

General Motors Corp.'s bid to raise cash and streamline its operations took a hit Wednesday after the automaker announced an agreement had fallen through to sell its Flint-based medium-duty truck business to an Illinois truck maker.

The plan with Navistar International Corp., announced in December, was contingent on both sides reaching consensus on a definitive purchase agreement as well as regulatory and board approval. GM cited "significant marketplace and economic changes" as reasons behind the collapse of a deal that would have let the automaker focus on building and selling light-duty trucks and cars — and match fuel-conscious consumer demand.

The fizzled deal should not harm GM's efforts to raise cash as part of a broad restructuring plan designed to help the automaker cope with plunging truck and SUV sales and focus on building light trucks and more fuel-efficient cars, he said.

"I suspect that it's not going to screw them up," Phillippi said. "They'll probably get a deal done later and probably at a lower price." detnews.com