The Isuzu story dates back to 1916, when the Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Company jointly decided to build automobiles. It took a technical agreement with England's Wolseley Motors in 1918 to get them started, with the first Wolseley A-9 coming down the assembly line four years later. By 1934, the company's trucks were called
...The Isuzu story dates back to 1916, when the Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Company jointly decided to build automobiles. It took a technical agreement with England's Wolseley Motors in 1918 to get them started, with the first Wolseley A-9 coming down the assembly line four years later. By 1934, the company's trucks were called "Isuzu" after the Japanese river of the same name, but it would take until July 1949 before the company officially changed its name to Isuzu Motors Ltd.
Despite these changes, Isuzu continued to court British automakers, signing a technical assistance agreement with the Rootes Group to produce the Hillman Minx in Japan beginning in 1953. In the 1960s, Isuzu gained international attention with the introduction of the Bellet sedan and 117 Coupe, the latter designed by renowned Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. General Motors bought a 49-percent stake in 1971, sourcing both the Chevy LUV compact pickup truck and U.S.-market Buick Opel from Isuzu.
Not long after, Isuzu established Isuzu Motors America to sell Isuzu-badged cars, trucks and commercial vehicles in the U.S. With GM dropping the LUV in favor of its domestically designed and built S-10 small pickup, Isuzu launched its own LUV replacement, the P'Up, and followed it with the rear-drive Impulse sport coupe and front-drive I-Mark hatchback and sedan. Once again Giugiaro and his ItalDesign team were tapped to design the cars, and Lotus — which, like Isuzu, was controlled by General Motors at the time--tuned their suspensions. This technical tie-up continued when the second-generation Impulse, also sold as the Geo Storm by Chevrolet dealers, arrived atop a front-drive platform. Lotus used the Impulse's engine and transmission in its 1989-1995 Elan sports car.
Isuzu, however, was having far more success on the light truck side with its Trooper and Rodeo SUVs, and began to pull out of the car market. These rugged body-on-frame vehicles gave the company credible competitors in the booming light truck market, and were shared with Honda (as the Acura SLX and Honda Passport, respectively) in exchange for an Isuzu version of the Honda Odyssey. Both the Passport and Rodeo, as well as the Isuzu Amigo, were built at the Subaru-Isuzu Automotive plant in Lafayette, Indiana, but eventually fell victim to a lack of investment. Even the knife-edged Axiom SUV, designed by Shiro Nakamura (Nissan's current design chief), couldn't stop the bleeding.
As a result, Subaru quickly bought Isuzu's share of the Indiana plant, and GM reduced its ownership stake to 12 percent as Isuzu began a rapid sales decline. Ironically, considering the history of the LUV, Isuzu tried to stem the tide with rebadged versions of the Chevy Colorado small pickup and GMC Envoy SUV, but it wasn't long before the company announced its plans to stop selling passenger cars and trucks in the U.S. All was not lost, however. Isuzu recently signed an agreement to develop small-displacement diesel engines for Toyota's European models, and it continues as one of the preeminent makers of medium- to heavy-duty trucks and diesel engines in the world.
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