Isuzu 2006 Annual Report Download - page 44

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Isuzu Motors Limited Annual Report 2006
History
Isuzu’s history can be traced back
to Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding &
Engineering Co., Ltd., which was found-
ed in 1893 and produced the first truck
made in Japan in a joint venture with
British automaker Wolseley Motor Ltd
in 1922.
Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding
& Engineering’s automotive arm be-
came a separate company, Ishikawajima
Automotive Works Co., Ltd. in 1929.
Following another merger in which
Ishikawajima Automotive Works took
over DAT Automobile Manufacturing,
the company changed its name to
Automobile Industries Co., Ltd. in 1933.
Automobile Industries Co. developed two
air-cooled diesel engine models, the DA4
and DA6—the foundation of all subse-
quent generations of Isuzu diesel engines.
Automobile Industries Co., Ltd. fur-
ther merged with Tokyo Gas & Electric
Co. and changed its name to Tokyo
Automobile Industries Co., Ltd. on April 9,
1937, the date Isuzu regards as its found-
ing. Tokyo Automobile Industries changed
its name to Diesel Automobile Industry
Co., Ltd. in 1941, and then in 1949—tak-
ing the name adopted in 1934 for its gov-
ernment-standard–model cars developed
in 1933—it changed its name to Isuzu
Motors Ltd.; the Isuzu was named after
the Isuzugawa, a river that flows past Mie
Prefecture’s Ise Shrine, Japan’s oldest.
In 1959, Isuzu launched the ELF, to-
day Japan’s top-selling light-duty truck.
The FORWARD medium-duty truck se-
ries went on sale in 1970, and the C&E
series of heavy-duty trucks and trac-
tors, the forerunners of which had been
on the market since 1959, underwent
a major overhaul in 1995 that resulted
in the GIGA series. Isuzu began sell-
ing the GALA large-size bus in 1996,
and in 2004, the company launched the
Mimamori-kun Online Service—the first
telematics system for commercial vehicles
in Japan.
Isuzu entered a tie-up with General
Motors Corporation in 1971. Since then,
Isuzu has expanded its overseas opera-
tions, highlighted by our opening of over-
seas operations in Thailand (1974), North
America (1975), and China (1985), and
starting diesel engine manufacture in
Poland (1999) and the U.S. (2000).
As an established world-class manufac-
turer of commercial vehicles, Isuzu today
is devoting its energies to developing the
next generation of vehicles.
Special achievements
In more ways than one, 2004 was a
milestone year for Isuzu. In 2004, Isuzu
manufactured 75,944 trucks with gross
vehicle mass (GVM) of 6.1–16 tons in
Japan, marking the fourth consecutive
year at the top of the league table in the
production of medium-duty trucks in a
single country. The figures are released
by automobile manufacturer associations
around the world.
Isuzu was also the top Japanese truck
maker in domestic output of combined
medium and heavy-duty trucks, produc-
ing 92,032 units with GVM of 6.1 tons
and over. Although there was a reaction-
ary decline in demand after the previ-
ous year when owners were preparing
for new exhaust emission regulations in
Japan, the company increased produc-
tion of trucks with GVM of 6.1 tons and
over by 6.6% or 5,678 units because of
growth in exports to North America and
Australia.
Also in 2004, the Isuzu N series (known
as the ELF in Japan) strengthened its posi-
tion as Japan’s most registered cab-over
truck of between two and three-ton pay-
loads. Not only was the N Series top of its
class for the fourth consecutive year, but
also in 34 of the past 35 years. A total of
44,764 N-Series trucks were registered in
2004, according to figures compiled by
Isuzu and the Japan Automobile Dealers
Association. Although the total number
of registered trucks declined after a sharp
increase in the previous year in the lead-
up to the government implementing new
diesel emissions regulations in October
2003, the N series’ category share in-
creased 0.3 percentage point to 36.7%.
M i l e s t o n e s
The Wolseley CP Truck
Wolseley cars at Fukagawa Factory
TX35 Government Standard Model
DA6 Diesel Engine
BX91 Diesel-powered Bus
TX80 Truck
The Elf First Generation Model