Isuzu is to construct factories in China and India to tap into local demand for pick-up trucks and to spread out production from Thailand which was hit by flooding last year.
The Nikkei newspaper has learned the company wants to raise pick-up capacity by more than 50% to 600,000 units by 2015, based on expectations that demand will grow over the medium to long term.
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Even as demand for cars slows, pickup trucks appear relatively immune to economic conditions, thanks to their versatility.
Isuzu recently acquired land on the outskirts of Chennai for a new plant to make 100,000 vehicles a year and plans to move old equipment from Thailand to the new facility in 2014. A new production line will be installed once sales in India ramp up.
In China, Isuzu plans a pickup truck factory in Nanchang with local joint venture partner Jiangling Motors (also Ford’s partner in a Ford Transit JV) in 2014. It will have an annual output capacity of 100,000 vehicles and will source engines from Isuzu’s other Chinese partner, QingLing Motors.
Isuzu is the world’s sixth-ranked pick-up manufacturer and vies with Toyota for the lead in the Thai market. Demand for the light commercials is growing in markets where road conditions are poor, including parts of Asia, Central and South America, and Russia.
The global market is projected to expand from 4.6m units in 2011, about 6% of the total, to almost 5.4m by 2015, according to research firm IHS Automotive.
