Mitsubishi Fuso explores joint truck venture in China

The truckmaking unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday that it was looking into setting up joint ventures with two Chinese automobile companies to produce trucks in China. A spokesman for unlisted Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp, which is owned 43 percent by Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG, said it had already begun the limited outsourcing of production of large trucks to China's Anhui Xingma Auto Co. The two are considering the joint establishment of a production company in order to take aim at the rapidly growing Chinese truck market, the spokesman said. Annual demand for trucks in Japan has more than halved since the peak of the bubble economy in the late 1980s and Mitsubishi rivals including Nissan Diesel Motor Co. have already launched joint ventures in China, lured by the rapid growth of the local market. The spokesman said that no production targets had been set, but Japan's Nihon Keizai daily said Saturday that Anzhui Xingma would produce 1,500 units for Mitsubishi in 2004, focusing on heavy trucks of above 10 tons, under the outsourcing deal. Mitsubishi is also considering a tie-up in small-scale trucks with China's Beijing Foton Motor Co. Ltd, the spokesman said. Mitsubishi's truck and bus business, spun off on Jan. 6, has been viewed as the most attractive segment of its operations. The unit has managed to expand its share of the domestic truck market for seven straight years as overall demand has shrunk.