Isuzu to Boost Stake in Russia Venture

Isuzu Motors Ltd. says it will buy an additional 16% stake in its Russia joint venture from partner Sollers OJSC for an undisclosed price. The purchase, which Isuzu hopes to complete as early as June, will bring its holding in the truck venture to 45%.

The deal will reduce the Sollers holding to 50% from 66%. Tokyo-based trading house Sojitz Corp. holds the remaining 5%.

The partners plan to begin making small trucks in June at a factory in Ulyanovsk in western Russia with initial capacity of 5,000 units per year. The plant is owned by automaker UAZ, in which Sollers holds a controlling stake.

The trucks previously were assembled at Sollers' plant in Tatarstan. But in early 2012 the Russian company agreed to build Ford Motor Co. trucks there under a new joint venture. An interim plan to produce Isuzu trucks in Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast was scrapped soon after.