Well that's sad to hear...
...although I'm not surprised. Did this news come from the company or a dealer (if those still exist)? I've been seeing alot of the new TTI and Tacony cordless uprights recently in commercial use. I can't say I've ever seen a commercial Guardsman in the wild however.
Bissell looks like they're keeping the genuine Sanitaires alive. They even have the blue "professional" line back with one of the 5amp models.
You win some you lose some.