Isuzu Isl-Series hits the road
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by John Kendall • The first production Isuzu N-Series rolled off the Leyland Trucks line last week, four months after the range was launched at the 1RTE Show at Telford (CM 23-29 May). The vehicle was handed over to Takeshi Inoh, the managing director of Isuzu Motors in Tokyo. Isuzu Truck (UK) has also commissioned a crew-cab prototype from Whittaker.
Isuzu Truck (UK) managing director Nikki King says the company has sold its entire pilot production run of 6.2-tanners, with 180 fleet orders for the 3.5 and 62tonne models.
Isuzu has also noted comments made at customer "clinics" of the vehicles: all models sold to date are being retrofitted with standard single-piece wheels and tubeless tyres to replace the split rims and tubed tyres favoured in Japan. "We changed 40 items after the UK clinic and now we are working on the mirrors," says King.
Makoto Ushiyama, general manager of Isuzu's European operations, says: "Our plan is that Leyland is the major manufacturing base for Isuzu in Europe. European sales should reach 3,000 a year, including the UK in the short term, rising to 5,000 in five years. We expect that over 50% of production will be sold in Europe."
Ushiyama expects to develop Isuzu's distribution network in Europe country by country.
The company is looking at the LGV sector, but Ushiyama says: "We need to establish a service network for heavy trucks and we recognise that Europe is also a very tough market."
Production at Leyland is initially from kits assembled in Japan.
Only tyres and batteries are currently sourced in Europe but if sales volumes increase local sourcing might rise to include glass, propshafts and other small components. Local content could reach 30% in around two years_