The Chevrolet Kodiak was a range of medium-duty trucks built from 1980 to 2009, sold alongside the GMC TopKick. It was the last medium-duty truck line General Motors produced before the Silverado 4500HD of 2019.
Chevrolet Kodiak at a glance
| Production | 1980–2009 |
|---|---|
| Class | Medium-duty trucks |
| Twin model | GMC TopKick |
| Generations | three |
| Position | between the C/K trucks and the GMC Brigadier |
| Uses | cargo hauling, dump trucks, cutaway and cowled chassis for buses |
| Last truck built | GMC TopKick 5500, Flint, 31 July 2009 |
| Successor | Chevrolet Silverado 4500/5500/6500HD from 2019 |
History of the Chevrolet Kodiak
The Kodiak and TopKick were introduced in 1980 as a variant of the medium-duty C/K truck line, sitting between the light C/K trucks and the class 8 GMC Brigadier. They were meant as vocational trucks: cargo haulers, dump trucks and similar vehicles. Later generations also offered cutaway and cowled chassis for bus builders. Three generations were produced over nearly thirty years.
After years of falling market share General Motors decided, as Ford had done, to leave heavy-truck manufacturing. Attempts to find joint ventures or sell the rights to the product line did not succeed, and production of the Kodiak and TopKick ended in 2009. The last medium-duty truck, a GMC TopKick 5500, left the Flint Truck Assembly plant on 31 July 2009.
For the 2019 model year, after a ten-year gap, GM returned to the conventional medium-duty market with the Chevrolet Silverado 4500HD, 5500HD and 6500HD, developed in a joint venture with Navistar International. The new trucks are class 4 to 6 vehicles, slightly smaller than the Kodiak, and are sold only as Chevrolets, with no GMC version.
Design and features
- Vocational trucks: built for cargo, tipper and municipal work rather than long-haul haulage.
- Three generations: produced from 1980 to 2009.
- Bus chassis: cutaway and cowled versions for bodybuilders.
- GMC twin: the same truck was sold as the GMC TopKick.
Chevrolet Kodiak versions
- First generation (1981–1990): the original Kodiak based on the medium-duty C/K.
- Later generations: revised cabs and chassis through the 1990s and 2000s.
- Cutaway and cowled chassis: versions for buses and specialist bodies.
- GMC TopKick: the GMC version, including the final 5500 of 2009.
The Kodiak sat above the Chevrolet C/K and below the class 8 trucks of the time, and its duties were taken over by the Chevrolet Silverado 4500HD in 2019. More trucks are in the Chevrolet collection.
Sources
- Chevrolet Kodiak, English Wikipedia: history, generations, end of production
