General Motors Corp. will help the financially struggling Isuzu Motors Ltd. manage its operations, but it does not intend to increase its stake in the truck maker, Richard Wagoner, president and chief executive officer of GM, said Tuesday.
Leaders of General Motors group companies join hands at a news conference in Tokyo.Speaking at a joint news conference in Tokyo the day before the Tokyo Motor Show opens to the media, GM and its three Japanese partners affirmed their alliance and unveiled their concept vehicles.
Wagoner said Isuzu is "a critical member" of the GM group, for which it supplies diesel engines, while Isuzu President Yoshinori Ida said the company is successfully implementing its restructuring plan announced in May.
GM formed a capital alliance with Isuzu in 1971 and owns 48.4 percent of the company. GM's two other Japanese partners are minicar maker Suzuki Motor Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., a Subaru automaker.
To reinforce its Asian operations, the auto giant signed a memorandum last month to acquire the car business of Daewoo Motor Co.
Wagoner said GM will send executives to the failed South Korean company and may consider joint projects between it and the Japanese partners after the company is restored.
Meanwhile, Takeshi Tanaka, chairman and chief executive officer of Fuji Heavy Industries, said it will jointly develop a sport utility vehicle with GM and market the model in North America in 2005.