Toyota has acquired a 5.9% share in Isuzu Motors Japan to become Isuzu's third largest shareholder. The move seems designed to bolster Toyota's diesel engine supply and R&D capacity, leaving it free to concentrate on petrol and hybrid technology.
However, this does
not appear to herald an all-out merger bid by Toyota. Internal notes seen by CM point to the possibility of a more formalised R&D relationship, but the retention of a competitive approach to the medium-duty truck market.
"Even if Isuzu ties the knot with Toyota on the technology side of the [diesel engine] business, we remain competitors in the market," Isuzu's Japanese HQ says.
Goldman Sachs analyst Kunihiko Shiohara says: "Toyota will be able to outsource diesel engines from Isuzu in Europe and the U.S. It will also be able to establish competitive advantage in the pickup truck sector - important in North America and emerging markets."
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