Japanese carmakers expand presence
Japan’s commercial car manufacturers are expanding their presence in overseas economies where demand for transport vehicles is growing rapidly and there is strong interest in Japan’s high-performance trucks. Isuzu Motors Corp. will build a factory in Saudi Arabia by 2009 for assembling knockdown kits. This move is part of Isuzu’s broader strategy to accelerate its push in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and other new economies. The truck maker aims to boost overseas sales of commercial vehicles by nearly 100,000 units to around 350,000 units in fiscal 2010. Emerging markets are seen as the engine driving that growth. Meanwhile, Hino Motors Ltd. has established a sales firm in India in a tie-up with Marubeni Corp. that will sell trucks assembled in Thailand in 2009. It also will begin producing trucks in China through a joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. that will be capable of assembling some 50,000 trucks per year. In addition, Hino has teamed with Mitsui & Co. to form a business in Russia to market trucks in Vladivostok and elsewhere in the east. Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. and Nissan Diesel Motor Co. are both heading to China and Russia as part of a push by their respective parent companies Daimler AG and AB Volvo. (September 13, 2008)
