Although there is a grouping of “Japanese cars”, just as Japanese car manufacturers sometimes sell imported cars under their own brand, it is not uncommon for Japanese cars to be sold in foreign countries far away under the brand of foreign manufacturers. .
A typical example is Isuzu, which has been a member of the GM group for a long time and still has a partnership relationship, and has made a lot of cars that GM sells in North America and elsewhere.
Let’s take a look at three of them.
Chevrolet LUV (first generation, 1972)
US General Motors version of the Faster pickup truck
The entry of Japanese cars into North America, which would later cause serious trade friction with the United States, began with low-priced mass-market cars and utility vehicles such as trucks. It was rather a weak field for rice manufacturers.
However, this is the United States, a country of rational thinking, and the quickest way to compete with Japanese cars is to partner with Japanese car manufacturers and sell Japanese pickup trucks. Soon after, I started selling Isuzu pickup trucks.
That was the GM version of the Isuzu Faster (first generation), launched as a low-priced Chevrolet LUV, and as expected, the LUV, which was well received, became a hit and contributed to the establishment of a foothold for GM to gain a certain share in this category. is.
Chevrolet/Geo Spectrum (1984)
US GM version of the second generation Gemini
flickr.com Author: Greg Gjerdingen CC BY-SA 2.0
The early standardized headlights and other North American specifications made the designer, the master Giorgetto Giugiaro, quite uncomfortable, but he regained his composure with subsequent design improvements. OEM version of Isuzu Gemini.
It sold well as a sedan for the masses/young people of the “Chevrolet” brand, and in 1989, when GM launched the “Geo”, a lower-priced brand than Chevrolet, the brand was transferred, and at the end of the model, it was sold as “Geo Spectrum”.
In the days of the first generation Gemini, there weren’t many expectations for passenger cars. It is heavily used.
However, as a result, the 3rd generation Gemini already revealed a lack of development and production capacity, and it is ironic that the company’s life as a passenger car manufacturer was short-lived.
59.8Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1990
- Mileage :
- 37,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- none
- area :
- Kanagawa Prefecture
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128Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1989
- Mileage :
- 149,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- With vehicle inspection maintenance
- area :
- Tokyo
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129.8Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1991
- Mileage :
- 111,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- With vehicle inspection maintenance
- area :
- Aomori Prefecture
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48Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1986
- Mileage :
- 138,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- With vehicle inspection maintenance
- area :
- Miyagi Prefecture
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38Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1992
- Mileage :
- 53,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- With vehicle inspection maintenance
- area :
- Miyagi Prefecture
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78Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1980
- Mileage :
- 246,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- Inspection 5.4
- area :
- Ehime Prefecture
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ASK
- Initial registration :
- 1978
- Mileage :
- Unknown
- vehicle inspection :
- Inspection 5.4
- area :
- Tokyo
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40Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1992
- Mileage :
- 170,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- none
- area :
- Ibaraki Prefecture
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99Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1991
- Mileage :
- 151,000km
- vehicle inspection :
- With vehicle inspection maintenance
- area :
- Aichi prefecture
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129Ten thousand yen
- Initial registration :
- 1992
- Mileage :
- 60,000 km
- vehicle inspection :
- Inspection 5.3
- area :
- Chiba Prefecture
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See more used cars of this model
Asuna Sunfire (1992)
GM compact car brand version for Canada of the second-generation Piazza
flickr.com Author: dave_7 CCBY-SA 2.0
GM was a Canadian version of GM with the aim of gathering demanded models from each GM brand and selling them under a unified brand in Canada, where there were problems with the same sales network as in the United States, such as the market size being much smaller than that of the United States, even though North America is also the same country. Brand “Asuna”.
At that time, Isuzu vehicles sold under the American low-priced brand “Gio” were also supplied to Asuna, and the second generation Impulse (Japanese name Piazza) was sold under the name “Sunfire”.
However, immediately after its launch, Isuzu faced problems such as lack of maturity and delays in supply of the third-generation Gemini series (Gemini cars, Piazza, PA Nero Geo Storm) due to limitations in development and production capacity. Withdrew from passenger cars to concentrate.
The Sunfire was only sold for about a year, and the “Asuna” itself was abolished in just about three years when GM’s ad hoc brand strategy was reviewed.
* The author information of the images used in this article is as of the publication date.