PSR Analysis: Isuzu has agreed to form a business alliance with Sweden’s Volvo in the Truck field and to acquire Volvo’s UD Trucks subsidiary. The amount of the acquisition depends on the negotiations, but Isuzu sees UD Trucks as a business size of 250 billion yen.
Since 2016, Isuzu has supplied components to the mid-class UD Trucks, and the relationship between the two companies has been more than simply rivals.
Isuzu dissolved its capital tie-up with Toyota in 2018 but wants to accelerate next-generation technology development in the truck field through a relationship with Volvo, which has strengths in autonomous driving.
Isuzu will receive technology from Volvo for autonomous driving and will share development costs. Volvo has taken the lead in autonomous driving technology and has released several prototypes.
Commercial vehicles that run on certain routes, such as within harbors and between warehouses, often have stronger needs for autonomous driving than general passenger cars.
Hino has held the top share amongJapanese brands for many years, and Isuzu has an aggressive strategy to follow them up. The idea is to gain an advantage by introducing reliable and next-generation technologies into mass-produced vehicles. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is a PSR Research Analyst – Far East and Southeast Asia
