Isuzu has reached an agreement to end the collaboration with Toyota, in which Isuzu will buy back the entire stake. Toyota and Isuzu have been jointly developing small diesel engines since November 2006; however, throughout these 12 years, there really is no substantial progress, which is the major reason to reach this decision of ending the collaboration. Furthermore, in the commercial vehicle industry, a collaboration is going beyond the framework of the group. So it is so interesting to see which direction Isuzu is going to take after ending the collaboration.  

Mr. Koichi Seto, Senior Executive Officer at Isuzu said that “We do not have any problem or conflict with Toyota, and we will maintain our good relationship.” He also pointed out a policy to continue the joint development of other projects. In regard to this, a Toyota official also said “It is not a negative thing at all. The collaboration of other technology developments such as exhaust reduction will still be continued.”

Isuzu miscalculated Toyota’s change of plan; in 2008, both companies had reached an agreement to develop a prototype of 1.6 liter small diesel engine for European vehicles. Aside from the fact that such engine had never been used in any hybrid vehicles as planned, Toyota Sales Department announced in March that it would discontinue the distribution of diesel vehicles for the European market. However, Mr. Seto thinks that the above situation did not directly trigger off the end of the collaboration, but it was rather affected by the external factors. 

Nowadays, the commercial vehicle developers have been continuously forming groups. Hino, one of Toyota’s subsidiaries, has reached in April a comprehensive agreement with Volkswagen, in which each of the alliance will take part in technology development as assigned. Mr. Seto said that “this kind of collaboration is inevitable since it could alleviate the manufacturer’s burden of budgeting for such developments, which are necessary.” In regard to this matter, Mr. Takaki Nakanishi, one of the analysts at Nakanishi Research Institute, expressed his opinion that “This is the time that one cannot survive alone.” At the moment, Isuzu is considering to partner with some of the subsidiaries founded by Toyota involving in fundamental technology for electric vehicles.