Isuzu struggling
01-16-2003, 09:29 AM
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Isuzu struggling
Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Isuzu Motors Ltd., facing its fourth straight annual loss, plans to raise 2003 overseas output by 11 percent to 248,000 units as it strengthens Asian operations outside Japan and shifts pickup truck production to Thailand.
The company, 12 percent owned by General Motors Corp., expects global output to fall 6 percent to 430,000 units as it makes fewer sport-utility vehicles. Isuzu expects sales of Japan-made vehicles, including exports, to fall a fifth to 186,000. The automaker didn't give a global sales figure.
Isuzu is pulling out of unprofitable businesses including sport-utilities to focus on making trucks as it strives to reduce debt and return to profit by March 2004. Like other truckmakers such as Nissan Diesel Motor Co., Isuzu is counting on expansion in China and Southeast Asia to fuel growth.
Isuzu will shift pickup truck production from Japan to Thailand, increasing local output 45 percent to 132,200 units this year, the company said. Isuzu expects sales in Thailand to rise 9.9 percent to 101,400 units this year.
Isuzu sees China sales rising 8.5 percent to 37,660 trucks this year. The company's output in the world's fastest-growing truck market will rise 5.1 percent to 38,980, said spokesman Tadashi Ioka. Isuzu said it's still awaiting Chinese government approval for a truckmaking venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.
Isuzu expects sales at home to rise 13 percent to 65,000 units in 2003 as demand increases for reduced-emission vehicles such as its Elf truck, which meets new government pollution rules to be introduced this October.
As part of Isuzu's plan to become more competitive in Asian countries outside Japan, the truckmaker is developing a large-sized truck which will cost 30 percent less to manufacture than its existing trucks of the same size, Isuzu's Ioka said.
Isuzu said the truck will be produced in Thailand or China and use parts supplied from those regions. The company also plans to use a cab normally used on a mid-sized truck, which will help reduce manufacturing costs by more than 10 percent, Ioka said.
The company hasn't set a release date yet. It plans to make 10,000 units in the first year of production, Isuzu said. General Motors, the world's largest automaker, and Isuzu will also begin operations of a joint venture next month, which will develop power train systems.
The company, 12 percent owned by General Motors Corp., expects global output to fall 6 percent to 430,000 units as it makes fewer sport-utility vehicles. Isuzu expects sales of Japan-made vehicles, including exports, to fall a fifth to 186,000. The automaker didn't give a global sales figure.
Isuzu is pulling out of unprofitable businesses including sport-utilities to focus on making trucks as it strives to reduce debt and return to profit by March 2004. Like other truckmakers such as Nissan Diesel Motor Co., Isuzu is counting on expansion in China and Southeast Asia to fuel growth.
Isuzu will shift pickup truck production from Japan to Thailand, increasing local output 45 percent to 132,200 units this year, the company said. Isuzu expects sales in Thailand to rise 9.9 percent to 101,400 units this year.
Isuzu sees China sales rising 8.5 percent to 37,660 trucks this year. The company's output in the world's fastest-growing truck market will rise 5.1 percent to 38,980, said spokesman Tadashi Ioka. Isuzu said it's still awaiting Chinese government approval for a truckmaking venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.
Isuzu expects sales at home to rise 13 percent to 65,000 units in 2003 as demand increases for reduced-emission vehicles such as its Elf truck, which meets new government pollution rules to be introduced this October.
As part of Isuzu's plan to become more competitive in Asian countries outside Japan, the truckmaker is developing a large-sized truck which will cost 30 percent less to manufacture than its existing trucks of the same size, Isuzu's Ioka said.
Isuzu said the truck will be produced in Thailand or China and use parts supplied from those regions. The company also plans to use a cab normally used on a mid-sized truck, which will help reduce manufacturing costs by more than 10 percent, Ioka said.
The company hasn't set a release date yet. It plans to make 10,000 units in the first year of production, Isuzu said. General Motors, the world's largest automaker, and Isuzu will also begin operations of a joint venture next month, which will develop power train systems.
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