Isuzu News

A new Minnesota law that requires biodiesel blends goes into effect in just a few days, says KELO. Diesel drivers in Minnesota will be pumping soybeans into their tank beginning July 1. Every year, diesel will be sold as a B10 blend (ten percent biofuel) from April through August, and will scale back to a cold-hardy B5 blend from September through March. The biofuel largely comes from soybean crops grown within Minnesota, and the biodiesel industry pumps more than $900 million into the state eco

We're not entirely sure what to make of reports regarding Isuzu's tie-up with General Motors for diesel engines that seem to conflict with one another, but here we go anyway. According to Bloomberg, Isuzu is considering whether it should end its joint venture with The General for the production of large-displacement Duramax diesel engines.

After General Motors severed its ownership ties with Isuzu two years ago, the struggling Japanese automaker hooked up with Toyota. While Isuzu has never really made much of an impact in the car market, they have been successful in commercial vehicles, particularly with diesel engines. Toyota decided to tap that expertise to help develop a new small displacement diesel engine for the European market. Unfortunately, huge losses for Toyota this year have caused it to slash spending on many programs

As much as we'd like to tell you that General Motors is considering adding a small diesel engine to its GMT 355 platform, we're not going to. While we do have visual evidence that an Isuzu D-Max, which is built atop the same underpinnings as the GMC Canyon and Chevy Colorado pickup trucks, has been testing on American roads with a 3.0L four cylinder turbodiesel engine, it's likely just an engineering mule that a powertrain supplier like Bosch or AVL is testing. Too bad. Aside from a mildly crush

Diesel engines are super popular over in Europe and every auto manufacturer that truly wants to play ball there needs to offer world-class oil-burners. Despite this undeniable fact, Toyota has requested a temporary suspension on its joint venture with Isuzu to create small diesels for the EU market. The first expected engine was to displace 1.6-liters and was to be made from aluminum to cut down weight. These small engines were supposed to make their first appearance in 2012, so perhaps there is

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Corporate Express has announced that it will be one of the first U.S. companies to test an Isuzu hybrid delivery truck for its operations. The model will be a current Isuzu truck in which Enova Systems will retrofit their HybridPower drive system. The truck is expected to be completed in April 2008 and will be used in Los Angeles, CA.

Last week, we told you that Isuzu and Toyota had announced that they were collaborating on a new small diesel engine. This week, they say that they are expanding that collaboration to also include new clean diesel exhaust technology. This agreement is between Hino Motors, Toyota's truck division, and Isuzu.

Isuzu may not be particularly successful as a purveyor of cars - particularly in the US market - but they have done much better in the medium duty truck market and as a designer and producer of diesel engines. Their joint venture with General Motors to produce diesels under the Duramax brand for GM's heavy duty trucks has gotten excellent reviews.

One of the technical highlights of the last generation GMT-800 full-size trucks from GM was the Duramax turbo-diesel V-8. This strong, efficient, refined engine was miles ahead of the Navistar engine in the Ford trucks and the Cummins engine that Dodge uses. The Duramax diesels are built by a General Motors-Isuzu joint-venture in Ohio called DMAX ltd. However, in the last year and a half, GM has been extricating themselves from most of their Japanese partnerships including Isuzu. Earlier this w

Today, Toyota and Isuzu announced a collaboration which will be made possible by the former purchasing a 5.9 percent stake (100 million shares) in the latter. The two companies said in a public statement that the deal will allow them to work together in the research and development in three areas of green car technology. According to Automotive News (subscription required), Isuzu will take the lead in the development of small diesel engines and diesel emissions control while Toyota spearheads al

The Kathryn Kennedy Winery in Saratoga, California is a good example of how a green mindset can affect an entire business. I've never tasted the company's wine, but the sustainability information on their website makes me interested to see how the eco-conscious farmers there operate. The farm uses integrated pest management and on-farm composting, and the green attitude extends to the office, where the workers use recycled office supplies. All of the farm's vehicles are green, too, from the elec

Diesel vehicle are receiving a lot of renewed interest in the U.S., and Isuzu's new diesel engine website is one more example of that. The site was launched to keep customers abreast of the new 2007 diesel emissions standards and, obviously, to promote Isuzu's diesel lineup. The site explains the features of Isuzu's 6H (7.8L) and the 4H (5.2L) engines and compares them to others. The company also enhanced its commercial vehicle website. The new diesel standards mean nitrogen oxide (NOx), hydroca