ISUZU:Protocol on the Study of Possible Expansion of Bus and Truck Businesses in Ukraine

The three companies BOGDAN CORPORATION (hereinafter referred to as "BOGDAN"), ISUZU MOTORS LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "ISUZU"), and SOJITZ CORPORATION (hereinafter referred to as "SOJITZ") have signed to begin a study on the possible expansion of the bus and truck businesses now in progress in Ukraine and on the possibility of their export to the Russia-CIS market in the future.

For the possible expansion of the sales business in Ukraine, introduction of light-duty trucks (ISUZU ELF) will be studied in addition to the BOGDAN-manufactured buses that use the platform of the ISUZU ELF and whose sales are steadily growing in that country.

Reflecting the smooth economic development in Ukraine, the bus and truck market in the country grew steadily from the scale of 30,000 in 1995, to 84,000 in 2000, and to the level of 130,000 in 2002. Along with this trend, the sales of BOGDAN-manufactured buses that are based on the ISUZU ELF expanded quickly from the initial shipment of 9 buses to BOGDAN in 1999 to 1,610 in 2003, thanks to their high value as a product. Approximately 2,400 buses are expected be shipped in 2005.

In the future, we intend to sell the vehicles on a scale of 20,000 a year, including export to the Russia-CIS market, by strengthening the sales business, including introduction of light-duty trucks.