Prince Motors Co (太子汽車), a small local car maker which distributes Isuzu and Suzuki-branded vehicles, announced yesterday that it had spent over NT$200 million (US$6.12 million) to buy a 50 percent stake in Taiwan Isuzu Motors Ltd.
The deal will reduce Isuzu Motors Ltd's share in the company from around 90 percent to 39.5 percent, with Itochu Corp maintaining a 10.5 percent share, Ken Hsui (許顯榮), president of Prince Motors, told a press conference.
"The move will enable complementary cooperation of both companies in capturing a bigger market share for commercial trucks," he said.
Taiwan Isuzu commissions Prince Motors to assemble and sell its 3.49-tonne ELF trucks, which captured a market share of 27.8 percent last month, up from 21 percent a year ago, the company said.
Within the next three years, Taiwan Isuzu aims to boost its share of the market to 40 percent and its share for large-sized trucks to 20 percent from the current 9 percent, said Bright Lin (林光耀), vice president of Prince Motors and new president of Taiwan Isuzu.
If it meets these targets, Taiwan Isuzu's total sales of mid and large-sized commercial trucks would double to 8,000 units from the current 4,000 units, Lin said.
With the share acquisition, both companies will set up showrooms nationwide to showcase commercial trucks.
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