25 Facts About Isuzu

Isuzu has assembly and manufacturing plants in Fujisawa, which have been there since the company was founded under earlier names, as well as in the Tochigi and Hokkaido prefectures.

Isuzu continued to manufacture heavy duty trucks and passenger busses, realizing the need to modernize the transportation infrastructure of Japan, and was one of the primary manufacturers for the Imperial Japanese Army along with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and had a corporate allegiance to the Yasuda Zaibatsu.

In 1958 a factory was built at Fujisawa, Kanagawa, and in 1959 the Isuzu Elf was introduced as a medium duty cab over commercial truck which is still in production, and was shared with the Isuzu Journey bus.

Isuzu continued to maintain its market presence by providing commercial vehicles by introducing the Isuzu TY in 1966.

In 1974 Isuzu introduced the Gemini, which was co-produced with General Motors as the T-body Chevrolet Chevette.

Related searches

Isuzu exports increased considerably as a result of being able to use GM networks, from 0.

In 1981 Isuzu began selling consumer and commercial vehicles under their own brand in the United States.

Isuzu ended US sales of the Impulse in 1992, and the following year it stopped exporting the Stylus, the last Isuzu-built car sold in the US.

Isuzu's United States sales reached a peak in 1996 after the introduction of the Isuzu Hombre pickup, a badge-engineered GM truck.

Isuzu resurrected the beloved Amigo in 1998, before changing the name of the 2-door convertible to Rodeo Sport in 2001 in an attempt to associate it with the better selling 4-door Rodeo.

Isuzu sales began to slide due to the aging of the Rodeo and Trooper, and poor management and a lack of assistance from GM.

In 1998 GM and Isuzu formed DMAX, a joint venture to produce diesel engines.

In 2001 GM and Isuzu announced plans to share distribution networks and for Chevrolet to market an Isuzu product.

Isuzu had 290 light-vehicle dealers in the US in August 2006, and sold an average of just two Ascenders per dealer per month, and rumors of Isuzu's withdrawal from the US market were rampant.

In late 2002 Isuzu initiated a recapitalization and debt-for-equity conversion plan to stave off a bankruptcy.

Isuzu sold just 1,504 vehicles in North America in the first two months of 2006.

GM ended its equity investment in Isuzu and sold all its shares to Mitsubishi Corporation, Itochu and Mizuho Corporate Bank; both GM and Isuzu claimed the companies would continue their relationship, but there was no word as of April 12,2006 on the effect this would have on DMAX operations.

Isuzu said it would use its engineering expertise to develop the pickup and GM would develop derivatives based on the integrated platform.

On January 30,2008 Isuzu announced its complete withdrawal from the US market, effective January 31,2009.

Isuzu had been experiencing a slow decline since the late 1990s.

In December 2019, Isuzu announced that it had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding which would eventually see Volvo sell UD Trucks to them.

In most of Asia and Africa, Isuzu is known primarily for trucks of all sizes, after Isuzu dropped all sales of sedans and compact cars in the late 1990s due to plummeting sales.

In 2009, Isuzu abandoned the United States consumer market due to lack of sales.

Isuzu has a contract with Budget Truck Rental to manufacture their rental trucks, shared with Ford, GMC, and Navistar International.

Isuzu claimed the largest share of the Thai commercial vehicle market, outperforming its competitors for at least 23 years.

Related searches