page_title: Isuzu
section_title: Contraction begins
hierarchical_section_title: Isuzu / History / Contraction begins
context_page_description: Isuzu Motors Ltd., trading as Isuzu, is a Japanese commercial vehicle and diesel engine manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo. Its principal activity is the production, marketing and sale of Isuzu commercial vehicles and diesel engines.
  It also has a number of subsidiaries, including Anadolu Isuzu, Sollers-Isuzu, SML Isuzu, Jiangxi Isuzu Motors, Isuzu Astra Motor Indonesia, Isuzu Malaysia, Isuzu UK, Isuzu South Africa, Isuzu Philippines, Taiwan Isuzu Motors, Isuzu Vietnam, Isuzu Motors India and BYD Isuzu.
  Isuzu has assembly and manufacturing plants in Fujisawa, as well as in the Tochigi and Hokkaidō prefectures. Isuzu-branded vehicles are sold in most commercial markets worldwide. Isuzu's primary market focus is on commercial diesel-powered truck, buses and construction, while their Japanese competitor Yanmar focuses on commercial-level powerplants and generators.
  By 2009, Isuzu had produced over 21 million diesel engines, which can be found in vehicles all over the world. Isuzu diesel engines are used by dozens of vehicle manufacturers, including General Motors.
  The name Isuzu translates into English as "fifty bells".
context_section_description: Isuzu ended US sales of the Impulse (Geo Storm) in 1992, and the following year it stopped exporting the Stylus (the basis for the Geo Spectrum), the last Isuzu-built car sold in the US.
  In 1993 Isuzu began a new vehicle exchange program with Honda, whereby Honda sold the Isuzu Rodeo and Isuzu Trooper as the Honda Passport and Acura SLX, respectively. In return Isuzu began selling the Honda Odyssey as the Isuzu Oasis. Thus, Honda's lineup gained two SUVs, and Isuzu's lineup gained a minivan. In the Japanese market, the Gemini (Stylus) was now a rebadged Honda Domani and the Aska (originally based on the GM J-car) was a Honda Accord.
  Isuzu's United States sales reached a peak in 1996 after the introduction of the Isuzu Hombre pickup, a badge-engineered GM truck (using the sheetmetal of the Brazil-market Chevrolet S10). 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. The new Axiom launched in 2001, with the fictional salesman Joe Isuzu from 1980s advertising campaigns brought back to promote it. Isuzu sales began to slide due to the ageing of the Rodeo and Trooper, and poor management and a lack of assistance from GM. The Rodeo Sport was discontinued in 2003, while production of the Rodeo and Axiom ceased a year later. By this point sales in North America had slowed to just 27,188, with the discontinued Rodeo and Axiom making up 71% of that total.
  In 1998 General Motors and Isuzu formed DMAX, a joint venture to produce diesel engines. GM raised its stake in Isuzu to 49% the following year, effectively gaining control of the company, and quickly followed this up by appointing an American GM executive to head Isuzu's North American Operations. This marked the first time a non-Japanese executive had held such a high position at Isuzu. In 2001 GM and Isuzu announced plans to share distribution networks and for Chevrolet to market an Isuzu product.
  The production version of the heralded VehiCROSS was introduced to the US in 1999, but met with mixed reviews, as its high pricetag, unique styling and two-door configuration did not seem to meet with market demands. Production of the VehiCROSS and other sport utility vehicles, including the Trooper, ended in 2001 as part of a major financial reorganization which eliminated almost 10,000 jobs. GM had been pushing the company to focus exclusively on producing commercial vehicles and engines.
  The number of Isuzu dealerships in the US began a rapid decline, and by 2005 had only 2 models: the Ascender (a re-badged GMC Envoy) and the i-series pickup truck (a rebadged Chevrolet Colorado). At this point, Isuzu in the US was primarily a distributor of medium duty trucks such as the N-series, sourced both from Japan and US plants in Janesville, Wisconsin and Flint, Michigan. 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. Plans to introduce a new Thai-built SUV for 2007 were shelved when Isuzu Motors Limited decided that a new SUV would be too risky, instead proceeding with the launch of the i-series trucks. Despite extremely low sales figures of 12,177 passenger vehicles for 2005 (with leftover Axiom and Rodeos making up 30% of this), Isuzu Motors America announced its first profit in years, mainly due to restructuring cuts.
  In early 2002, Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company) bought Isuzu's share of Lafayette, Indiana plant, and Subaru Isuzu Automotive (SIA) became Subaru of Indiana Automotive. After 8 years of heavy Honda Passport sales and light Isuzu Oasis sales, Honda and Isuzu cooperatively ended their vehicle exchange agreement in 2001. The Oasis was dropped, and Honda replaced the Passport with the Pilot. 2001 was Isuzu's last year for passenger vehicles in Canada, as Isuzus in Canada were mostly sold at Saturn-Saab dealerships. In late 2002 Isuzu initiated a recapitalization and debt-for-equity 
caption: Isuzu LT132L on a Hong Kong motorway
exif: {}