Breaking: Volkswagen Pursuing Isuzu?

by Edward Niedermeyer

April 17th, 2023 5:44 PM

The German Manager Magazin will write in its print edition that Volkswagen is considering buying all or part of Isuzu, the diesel-centric Japanese truck and commercial vehicle manufacturer. Volkswagen even has a codename for the deal: “Irene.” Another possibility: the truck firm MAN, which VW owns 30% of, could buy up an Isuzu stake, allowing VW to craft a three-part truck alliance between MAN, Scania and Isuzu. VW’s board member in charge of commercial trucks, Jochem Heizmann, is reportedly in Tokyo pursuing the acquisition and has inspected Isuzu. Toyota’s six percent stake in Isuzu (not to mention VW’s distractions integrating its Porsche and Suzuki alliances) could be serious obstacles. As VW and Toyota battle for the position of world’s largest automaker, Isuzu could become a symbolic battleground for the outsized ambitions of these two industry titans.

UPDATE: VW tells Automotive News [sub] that an Isuzu takeover is “not on the agenda.” Does that mean they’re not looking into the possibility? At this point, it’s not clear.

#Alliances #Germany #Global #Japan #Trucks

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10 of 16 comments

MikeAR on Apr 13, 2011

I'm not going to say much here other than I always liked the Vehicross and it's a shame it didn't sell better. It was kind of the the Rally Fighter of its day, at least in its looks.

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- Psarhjinian on Apr 13, 2011
  
  @MikeAR: I don't agree with you on much, but I will agree with you on the Vehicross.
  
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Zackman on Apr 13, 2011

The Isuzu-with-the-fat-lip pictured above kind of sums up that company in recent years. My mind tells me in this era of globalization, much more consolidation must take place for the fringe players to survive, if not the major OEMs. Brazil on the verge of greatness? By what standard? The west? Brazil seems to be the anchor of South America, both economically and culturally. It always impressed me, when as a young boy, I saw on TV (1960?) that they were building a new capitol city, Brasilia, out in the middle of nowhere. They succeeded!

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- MikeAR on Apr 13, 2011
  
  Zackman, don't belittle the Vehicross. It kind of failed in the market but at least it wasn't a cookie-cutter SUV. They tried something different and deserve props for that. It actually was and is a pretty good off-roader, it just didn't have enough space to be practical. I want one and one day maybe I'll pick one up as a dedicated off-roader. They deserve points for trying to be different.
  
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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Apr 13, 2011
  
  Hey Zackman! In the sense that most of Brazil's people still live in poverty, we are a big failure. Technical capacity apparently we have, as apparently we also have some financial wealth. we just have to learn to split it up amonst ourselves more evenly. If we get ot even Portuguese or Greek levels of social and equality levels in the next 10 to 20 yrs I'll consider this country a success. Until then we should be called Belindia. 20% live like in Belgium, 80% live like in India's poorest areas.
  
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- Zackman on Apr 13, 2011
  @Marcelo de Vasconcellos @MikeAR: Sorry. Not cutting it down, I just quoted a line someone wrote in a magazine describing the style. I saw a few of them around here, but it's been awhile. @Marcelo: I didn't realize that so many were on the poverty level down there. Do you consider those who live in the rain forest in a primitive fashion like their ancestors poor? Or, are you referring to the cities? In any case, like up here, there are many poor, sad either way. As a kudos to you, I enjoy your columns on here. Good job!
  
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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Apr 13, 2011
  
  @Marcelo de Vasconcellos Thanks for compliments Zackman! As to rain forrest, unfortunatley I think at least 85% of the population now lives in urban areas. Can't help to think but the old Indian hunter-gatherer lifestyle seems a lot healthier than the squalor that a lot of the urban poor have to endure.
  
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- Steve65 on Apr 13, 2011
  
  @MikeAR It's been a lot of years since I sat in a Vehicross, but my most enduring impression is that outward visibility is poor. Not the hot ticket for an off-roader toy.
  
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Athos Nobile on Apr 13, 2011

First Suzuki and now Isuzu... seems like VW want to mate with previous GM wifes. Is Subaru next? In any case, my question is... are they going to let them make cars again? In the SUV department they tried different, with both the VehiCross and the Axiom. The later one lives with some facelifting in GreatWall's SUV range. Cars were also different.

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Blowfish on Apr 13, 2011

So had Guangdong Motors competely severed ties with Izusu? Or GM owns some of its shares?

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