, commonly known as Isuzu (, ), is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Its principal activity is the production, marketing and sale of Isuzu commercial vehicles and diesel engines.
The company also has a number of subsidiaries and joint ventures, including UD Trucks, Anadolu Isuzu (a Turkish joint venture with Anadolu Group), Sollers-Isuzu (a Russian joint venture with Sollers JSC - Production stopped in March 2022, Iusuzu stake transferred to Sollers in July 2023), SML Isuzu (an Indian venture formerly known as Swaraj Mazda), Jiangxi Isuzu Motors (a Chinese joint venture with Jiangling Motors Company Group), Isuzu Astra Motor Indonesia, Isuzu Malaysia (Isuzu HICOM), Industries Mécaniques Maghrébines, 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, which have been there since the company was founded under earlier names, 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.
Named after the Isuzu River, the kanji of Isuzu (五十鈴) mean "fifty bells".
History
Isuzu Motors' history began in 1916, when Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd. planned a cooperation with the Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Company to build automobiles. The next step was taken in 1918, when a technical cooperation with Wolseley Motors Limited was initiated, yielding exclusive rights to the production and sales of Wolseley vehicles in East Asia from knock-down kits. In 1919 came the first ever Japan-produced passenger car, a Wolseley model, the Fifteen A9 15/40 НР at the Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipyard at the Fukagawa Factory. The Wolseley sourced CP truck followed two years later; 550 of these were built by 1927. In 1923 Japan was devastated by the Kanto earthquake which made the fledgling transportation infrastructure that was heavily reliant on government-owned railroads unusable due to the twisted tracks. Heavy construction vehicles were imported from the United States companies GMC and Ford to aid in recovery and reconstruction, and the company sought to contribute by producing locally built construction and heavy duty vehicles. In 1927 the company introduced its 2-ton load capacity "Sumida P-type truck" equipped with an A6 engine and a 1-ton vehicle "Sumida M-type No. 1 bus" equipped with an A4 engine. The name "sumida" was used from the Sumida River as the factory at Fukagawa was close by.
In 1929 IHI Corporation, separated part of its manufacturing business and merged with DAT Automobile Manufacturing Inc. (a predecessor of Nissan) and changed its name to Jidosha Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Automobile Industries Co., Ltd.) The names used for the products of this company, marketed as "Sumida" and "Chiyoda", have special significance in Japan. Chiyoda is a district in Tokyo where the Imperial Palace is located, and Sumida refers to a river that flows through Tokyo approximately east of the Imperial Palace. In 1934 the Tsurumi Factory opened under company name Automobile Industry Co., Ltd. and in 1937 Automobile Industries was reorganized and formed into a new company, Tokyo Automobile Industries Co., Ltd. and was founded with a capital of ¥1,000,000. The company continued to manufacture heavy duty trucks and passenger busses, realizing the need to modernize the transportation infrastructure of Japan, and was one of the primary manufacturers for the Imperial Japanese Army along with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and had a corporate allegiance to the Yasuda Zaibatsu. One of the vehicles it produced for the war effort was the Sumida M.2593 armored personnel carrier. In 1942, Hino Heavy Industries was split off from Tokyo Automobile Industries, becoming a separate corporation. After the Second World War, the company was finally renamed to Isuzu (after the Isuzu River) in 1949, following a meeting with the Japanese Government's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI).
Etymology
The word Isuzu translated into English means "fifty bells"—hence the focus on "bell" in both the later Bellel and the Bellett. The name was used from the Isuzu River that flows near to the Ise Grand Shrine, one of Japan's most sacred and revered shrines.