Isuzu Motors Ltd. said Thursday its estimated group net loss more than tripled in fiscal 2002 from a year earlier to 144.3 billion yen due to restructuring costs. The truck maker posted a 42.99 billion yen loss the previous year.
Its revised forecast for the net loss marks a 15 percent improvement from its November projection, thanks to thriving truck sales at home and in Thailand.
Group sales came to 1.35 trillion yen, up 6.3 percent from the previous forecast.
Domestic truck sales rose 3.6 percent to 61,115 units. Since December, according to Isuzu officials, a growing number of truckers have bought new vehicles able to clear the tougher regulations on diesel exhaust emissions that will take effect in October.
The officials also said sales of the firm's D-Max pickup truck increased in Thailand after a fully redesigned model debuted in June.
Corporate restructuring efforts included job cuts worldwide and reductions to manufacturing lines in the United States. The firm will announce its fiscal 2002 final earnings results next week.