Japan's Isuzu to build pickup truck plants in China, India

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Isuzu Motors will spend 30 billion yen (S$477 million) to build new factories in China and India to tap rising demand for pickup trucks in the fast-growing markets, a report said on Tuesday.

The new plants will together produce about 200,000 trucks a year, boosting Isuzu's annual pickup capacity by about 50 per cent to 600,000 by 2015, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

In China, Isuzu will build a factory in the south-eastern city of Nanchang with local automaker Jiangling Motors Group, the Nikkei report said.

The new facility will be able to produce 100,000 vehicles annually, it said.